Heartbreak
by The Lil' Lion
Summary: Heartbreak. Crushing grief, anguish, or distress. He broke up with her because that's what he thought was best. He thought if they parted ways, he wouldn't be in the way of her success. It hurt both of them, but Percy thought she would heal. Even so, when they reunite years later, will they really have mended hearts? (Rated T for Cursing and Adult themes)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! If you are new, welcome, and if you've come from Knelt By Her Notebook (my other story, check it out!) then welcome back! Here is the first chapter of my new story!**

**Disclaimer: My name's not Rick, nor is it Riodan. I'm just doing this for fun!**

The last time he saw her, it was raining. They were in a crowded train station, and she was about to leave him. Forever, he thought.

He had never deserved Annabeth Chase, he decided, and in his mind, the best way to solve this problem, was to cut ties.

"This isn't going to work out." He remembered saying to her. He was lucky there was bad weather. It made the tears look like raindrops. "Annabeth, I think we need to let go." His expression was neutral, except for the small droplets coming from his eyes, which could be mistaken for rain.

She had looked up at him, with sadness in her eyes, and replied. "Yeah. Maybe."

"I just don't think it was ever going to work out." Percy continued, knowing what he was doing. _God, _he was such an idiot, but that didn't matter, because Annabeth had a future. Percy didn't. Annabeth was going to college in New York City. Percy wasn't. He was stuck here at community college, while Annabeth was going to fulfill her dreams. She couldn't have a boyfriend weighing her done. Plus, they'd been having problems for awhile.

"Yeah," Annabeth eyes hardened, not the soft sadness they were before. "Maybe," she repeated.

Before he had the chance to say anything in response, the train came into the station. He helped her with her bags, chivalry wasn't dead after all, and then the train pulled away from the station, almost in slow motion. Like it was trying to tell him this was a bad idea. And it was. Annabeth was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Hours later, he got a text from Thalia. "You're a real jerk, you know that?" It read.

He ignored it. One, because it was true and he knew it, but also, because he didn't want to have to fight Thalia. He didn't want her to confront him either.

Another one came in minutes later. "You made Annabeth cry." It said. Percy felt his heart tighten a bit. That's not what he wanted. He wanted to break it off, and so Annabeth would be perfectly happy after. Like nothing wrong had happened. She _looked _fine when she got on the train, hell, her expression wasn't giving off any external doubt.

"I didn't mean to," he began typing, and then deleted it. "I'm so sorry," He typed again, but knoxed that one too. In the end, he decided it was best just not to respond after all. There wasn't any right answer.

He took a shower, thinking it would wash off all the… everything, he'd been feeling.

It didn't work. He instead cried, hoping the water would wash away his tears.

This could only be described in one word: Pathetic. He was the one (the idiot), who broke it off in the first place. He was the one that was the jerk in this situation.

But somehow, he was the one who found himself in the "crying" situation. He wasn't supposed to feel like this, was he?

That was stupid. He could feel however he wanted to feel. And if that meant torturing himself, it meant torturing himself.

Shit, he was so tired. Drained, parched, whatever, it didn't matter. He really needs to get himself together- fix this, get Annabeth back.

He picks up his phone, and begins typing words into it. He doesn't know what to say, what _can _he say? He types a couple messages and deletes them. "I made a mistake." He wants to say. "A really big one."

He switches to his mobile calling app, and types in her number, which he knows by heart into the device. His finger hovers over the call button, but he doesn't press it. There's something stopping him from pressing him. A part of him that knows this _wasn't _a mistake, and that he should let her move on.

She needs to move on. She needs to move on from him. Move on from their hometown. Move on from this life. Annabeth deserves so much more than this. She deserves California- where she's going to college. She deserves to get away from their little town in New York. She deserves to go somewhere big- where she can be remembered for what she truly is- a strong, independent woman.

But God, it's so hard to let her go. She needs to go yes. She needs to let go, she can't be the person waiting for her boyfriend to call when she's at a party. She can't have him calling at all hours of the night just to say "hi." She needs to live life. Live through college.

And Percy had thought he would do that too. He had a scholarship for college. He had the money all set up. The swimming was going well too. But then his mom got sick. Now he had to take care of her. That's why community college was the best choice. Even though his mom told him not to- that she'd be fine.

Annabeth had said it was his choice. That this entire thing, it was up to him. She hadn't mentioned a hint of breaking up, just that they would have a long distance relationship.

Percy knew the success rate of that, and didn't want Annabeth to go through the pain and suffering he had heard other couples having.

And after thinking about it for a while, he broke it off. He thought that he'd feel better, knowing Annabeth's future was secure, and not held down by a needy boyfriend.

But no, he just felt like shit. And Annabeth was apparently crying too.

He knew he was doing the right thing- because even though it wasn't the right thing for him, it was the right thing for her. And that was all that mattered. As long as she was secure, as long as she was happy, he would deal.

And maybe slowly, his heart would mend too.

**First Chapter! I'm so excited to be starting another story! I love writing fanfiction and sharing it with you guys, especially seeing you guys enjoy it. **

**(Also, I'm sorry for breaking Percabeth up, but don't worry, they'll get back together, this is a Percabeth fanfiction after all)**

**Next chapter will be posted Wednesday, and the update schedule will be the same as Knelt by Her Notebook was, Monday's, Wedensdays' and Fridays.**

**Anyway, let me know your thoughts! I'm dying to hear what you guys think in the reviews. **

**TheLil'Lion**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it (as much as you can enjoy angst)!**

The last time she saw him, she cried. Her train had just come, and bustling passengers left the crowded station, about to get on.

And Percy spoke the words that would hurt her forevermore. All of it felt so emotionless. Everything felt… gray. It felt like color was fading from the world.

"This isn't going to work out." He had said to her. She was lucky that the weather sucked, or else she would have been given away. Raindrops fell down, masking her tears and her true feelings. "Annabeth, I think we need to let go." He then said, and his expression looked so cold. As if he had been planning this. As if this was expected.

It sure wasn't. They'd _talked _about this."Yeah, maybe." Annabeth said, biting her lip, wanting to turn away.

"I just don't think it was ever going to work out." He continued. Annabeth could see he was furrowing his brows. Why did he have to do this now, right when she had to leave?

For once, it would be better if he just _texted _her. She wished he'd taken the cowardly move, and let her deal with her feelings without being in hispresence.

But…maybe Percy didn't want to do this, because he didn't want her to be hurt. Maybe they had to let go. Either that, or, he just didn't want to deal with having a long distance girlfriend. Either possibility was equally horrible and likely.

"Yeah," Annabeth's eyes hardened as she tried to mask her feelings further. "Maybe," She repeated, successfully preventing another voice crack.

When the train came, he helped her put her bags on, like the gentleman he was. At least chivalry wasn't dead. And as the train pulled away from the station, she looked out the window, seeing Percy's figure become smaller and smaller. Maybe this was a sign- one telling her that Percy was gone- possibly forever.

Shit.

She put her head to her knees and cried. That was all she could do. This was a mistake- it had to be, right? They were high school sweethearts, the perfect couple. Disgustingly sweet, always made fun of for their "canoodling." Everyone knew: Percy and Annabeth, they are inseparable.

Oh, the irony. If those people could see them now.

She cried more- not caring that people were watching her- judging her, casting those sympathetic looks she hated. Once she had seemingly "run out of tears," she texted Thalia. The only person who could help her. Thalia, her best friend- practically her sister.

"Percy broke up with me," She typed and sent.

Thalia called her seconds later, and Annabeth sobbed to her on the phone. About how it happened- the coldness in his eyes. _Everything. _

Thalia snarled. "I'm going to beat the shit out of him up when I see him next."

She knew Thalia could. She hadn't left for college, and Percy lived only a few blocks away from her. "Thalia- please don't-"

She was cut off. "No, I'm going to give that kelp-head what he deserves. What the hell is wrong with him?"

A rhetorical question. Obviously. She simply nodded, though Thalia couldn't see her, and sharply inhaled. "I'm going to go now," She whispered into the phone, and hung up.

She curled up in her seat, trying to disappear, because no matter how much she missed him, no matter how much she felt for him, she couldn't text him.

Hours passed on the train, with Annabeth checking her phone over and over again, to see if possibly, he had texted her, anything. Her eyes once perked, when she saw the three dots come up once, but soon they disappeared, and she was left to her feelings again.

She cried some more, until tears couldn't come out anymore. Other passengers asked her what was wrong, but the thing was, Annabeth couldn't _speak. _Her words were changed into cries, sobs, whatever, and she just wanted to-

"Hey." A voice interrupted her thoughts. Standing in front of her was a girl- tan skin, dark hair braided into an intricate braid and wow, she was beautiful. "I'm Piper. Do you need someone to talk to?"

Annabeth closed her eyes, and wiped her tears away. She managed a single word. "Yeah."

Piper glanced at the empty seat next to her. "Can I sit?" She asked, and Annabeth nodded. Piper made her way to the seat, and sat down next to her, turning to her quickly after she was situated. "Where are you headed?"

"Berkeley. College." She said, the one thing she had been looking forward to was ruined by Percy. _Ruined by Percy. _Maybe she shouldn't be feeling sad about this, she should be feeling angry- angry that he'd ruined this for her, right as she was headed to college, the place where she would earn her degree and start her career.

"It's a small word." Piper said, and Annabeth tried to smile. "I'm headed there too."

That was nice. She'd at least _know _someone there. "Now," Piper said, turning serious. "What happened? You've been crying non-stop for the last couple of hours."

Annabeth opened her mouth slowly, and began to tell the story- starting from the beginning, of the boy that had broken into her heart.

"Percy Jackson happened," She started, her voice shaking. "My boyfriend- well, ex-boyfriend."

"We'd had been bestfriends since eighth grade. Inseparable. We had this connection, everyone could see it. We loved each other from the start. We had pet names, we sat together at lunch, we did _everything _together."

"Once we got into high school, something changed." Annabeth continued. "New feelings- romantic one's emerged. It wasn't out of the blue. People had been 'shipping' us together for a while. To close friends, spending time together, everyone 'ships' them together. It's just what teenagers do."

"So we eventually started dating, which was good. It was so _good, _I loved Percy- I still love him now."

"But…?" Piper said, her eyes preening, wanting to know what had happened, presumably so that she could help Annabeth feel better.

Annabeth's eyes simply hardened, and a frown appeared on her face. "But then he broke up with no reason."

"Oh." Piper said simply, her eyes widening in sympathy.

Annabeth shrugged, wiping another tear away. "Yeah. Well, what's done is done, and I shouldn't be crying about it. I should be angry. _At him. _Because he's a coward."

"Yeah." Piper scoffed. "Sounds like one. A jerk too- you deserve better."

Percy wasn't a jerk, Annabeth knew that. And he probably had his reasons. But he could have given her some explanation, at least. Telling her that it "just wasn't going to work out," didn't tell her _anything_. Percy must have been avoiding something, a fear, an insecurity- whatever, and that made him a coward.

They always talked through their problems, and this time shouldn't have been any different. If Annabeth could at least _understand _why he was doing this, she would at least be able to rationalize her thoughts.

But of course that hadn't happened, and Percy had just left her during the biggest transition point of her life.

**Wow, this is getting heavy *wipes forehead* well, don't worry, like I've said before this IS PERCABETH, though it's angst. I'm not spoiling anything when I say that they will reunite, as it's pretty obvious. **

**Also, I just wanted to apologize. I was reading through Chapter One the other day, and noticed one really big plot hole that I want to make sure is cleared up. Annabeth and Percy live in New York. Annabeth is leaving for California, and because the two of them live in a smaller town, Annabeth is taking the train to a plane. **

**Anonymous8, Thank you so much! Wow, your review really brightened my day. I'm so happy when I see that people are enjoying my stories, and am super flattered. Thank **_**you **_**so much!**

**RandomFanAuthor, other characters will appear, but they won't necessarily break up or even **_**be **_**in a relationship when they are introduced. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!  
**

Percy felt like he was dying. It had only been a week without Annabeth- more than they'd ever spent apart, and he literally felt like he was being castrated.

He looked up at the sky- and although it was a bright blue- a beautiful color, it seemed ugly- even worse, disgusting. But, he had to get out, he couldn't let himself turn into a dead-beat- he couldn't fall off ladder, reducing himself to nothingness.

Practices were starting the next week, and classes did the week following, and although it wasn't a great college, he still needed to work hard.

The thing was, Percy knew he wasn't going to get out of this place. He knew he would stay here for the rest of his life- like so many other people had, but he still wanted to try.

He continued walking down the street, his mom had told him to get groceries, and sent him to the supermarket with a list. He had already bought the groceries, they were heavy in his hands, and he was headed back home.

He passed by a couple walking their dog, two boys smiling brightly at each other, and it seems like the world is against him. Like the universe is trying to tell him something, that something being that he's an idiot, and it's his fault he's suffering. Everyone around him is happy, in love, together, while he's miles apart from the person he cares about most.

His hand tightened around the groceries as he gets a glimpse of what looks like a girl- with tanned skin and a pixie cut, accompanied by a leather jacket. Shit. He's been trying to avoid Thalia, but he guesses that it's inevitable they'll see each other.

As she seemingly sees him to, she starts sprinting over, and Percy braces himself for impact.

"You're a jerk." Thalia said as she approached them. "You didn't deserve her in the first place, and then you made her cry? What the hell Percy, why?"

Percy stood, looking over her head- she was fairly short in comparison to him. He didn't say anything, and kept the groceries in his hands.

"Answer me," Thalia snarled. "What the hell Percy?"

Percy continued to look over her head. "I have to go." He said, and tried to walk away.

Thalia held him back, pushing him away. She grabbed his shirt to make sure he didn't move away. "Answer my question Percy. Why did you hurt her? You guys were so in love."

"Please Thalia, stop. I-I can't," He said, defeated. "Let me go."

She slapped him. Not in the face- on the chest, but nevertheless it hurt. Again, like a baby, he wanted to cry. He knew he didn't have a right to, not in this situation.

"I hate you so much right now." Thalia told him, before she pushed him away one more time, and walked in the opposite direction. "Why would you do this?" She shook her head. "It's so dumb, god, you and Annabeth, you were perfect." Percy winced at the mention of her name. "Why the hell would you ruin that?"

_Yeah, _he thought, _I hate myself too. _This was just further proof that the world was against him. The universe could have waited a while before it threw Thalia in his path, but maybe it was better everything was over with.

Once he returned the groceries home, he went on a social media cleanse. He first checked Annabeth's page, to see if she had deleted any of her stuff of him, and when all the recent photos of the two of them, hugging, kissing, smiling were gone, he decided it was the right thing to do.

As he went through each post, he realized how _hard _it was to do this- to delete these memories, and that whenever he tried, he would take a trip through memory lane, one that just ended with him getting more hurt.

He could call a friend to do it. That would help things go by smoother. He wouldn't be sitting on his bed, like he was now, for hours, finger hovering over a single picture's delete button.

To delete, or not to delete, that was the question.

He left his phone on his bedside table, social media untouched. All the photos were still there, and just because they broke up, didn't mean that he had to take them away. They would soon be flooded out by new pictures, and nobody would remember the relationship that once was.

Years in the future, maybe he and Annabeth could laugh about the whole situation (he wasn't betting on it). But who was he kidding? Years in the future, Annabeth would be out traveling, or in LA, or doing something cool, while Percy would be stuck here teaching swim lessons and working at a bed and breakfast or something.

He hoped that he would see her one more time. Because as long as they weren't together, there would always be a little gap in Percy's heart.

Maybe she wouldn't even remember him. She'd be so caught up in her old world, she wouldn't think to have Percy cross through her mind. It probably wasn't as big of a deal as he thought he was. Years later, when Annabeth was talking to a person that actually deserved her, she might pause, trying to remember his name, and laugh to him about how he broke up with her.

And Percy would be here, alone, thinking about her, because Annabeth didn't deserve him. He was lucky to have gotten someone like her. Smart, beautiful, funny, sarcastic, kind Annabeth.

Annabeth, who would help him study for the upcoming test. Annabeth, who wouldn't mind waiting for him at the swimming pool, Annabeth, who made the funniest jokes. Annabeth, who was everything.

And Percy had this little, sick, hope in his heart, that he would somehow claim a little piece of her heart. A small, little piece, that she would remember him by. Her first love, that was what he was. But hopefully, not her last.

Because Annabeth deserved more than that. Annabeth deserved everything.

**So yeah, Percy's pretty much an emotional mess right now.** **That'll get fixed up… eventually. For now, he's just a tiny bit screwed. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm happy that you guys are enjoying the story! Next chapter comes out Monday!**

**What do you think so far? What do you predict will happen in the future? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the reviews!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Before I start, I'd like to let you know that Percy and Annabeth were both eighteen years old in the last chapter, and at this time skip both will be twenty-five.**

**Disclaimer: If I had written the Percy Jackson, I'd be living the high life. Plus, that'd be weird, writing fanfiction for my own book series.**

_**Six Years Later**_

Annabeth shuffled her papers into an orderly pile, and put them beside her desk. She'd been working at this architectural firm almost straight out of college and absolutely loved her job. It wasn't just the work she was doing- it was the people too. She'd met a variety of different people, and was now, gearing up to design a new building, on-site, in a different state.

She loved California, but was still excited to go to another state. Piper, who was working as a therapist nearby, and had told her that if she could find a job in the new location, she would come with her, which was exciting.

She would be getting an email any minute, which would show her where she was working, and what she was working on.

Picking up a stray pencil on her desk, and putting it in the little jar she kept next to her computer, she anxiously played with her hair, waiting for the email to come in.

_Any minute now, _she thought, continuing to twirl her hair.

Her computer beeped, signaling the arrival of an email, and Annabeth hastily went to the website, clicking on the first new email she saw.

She looked closer at the email, and realized it was just a lousy promotion deal- for mattresses, no less. Rolling her eyes, she clicked back to the tab she _was _working on, and scrolled through the plan she had been editing. It was a simple plan, just an addition to a building nearby, but nonetheless, had to be edited clean for approval.

She scrolled through detecting no mistakes, until another beep rang on her computer. This time, the headline read "Annabeth Chase Relocation for Minerva's Architects firm."

She clicked onto the email, this time slowly, and read through each paragraph, her excitement growing. She'd love to go to a state she'd never been to before. It would be an adventure, interesting fun, and plus, the firm would be paying for her housing and trip there and back.

And then she got to the location. For the state, it read New York. That was fine. Nothing bad about New York, sure she'd been there before, but only one area of it. It probably wasn't even in that area, it was probably somewhere big, like the city.

But-

Shit, did she really have to be so unlucky?

On the city section, it read the name of a town, a place she had been avoiding for the last six years. Because of one person- and one person only.

Percy Jackson.

Percy Jackson- who had utterly shattered her heart so many years ago, as she was just about to leave for California. Percy Jackson- who had said so many times that he loved her, but instead pushed her away at a time of transition- when he was the one she needed most.

And Percy Jackson, who apparently was still living in her hometown, working as a swim coach and a waiter. According to Thalia, at least, who lived there.

God, she really didn't have to do this. She didn't want to see him again. That was the point of all of this, right? To forget about him. Everyone constantly told her that he didn't deserve her, but the thing was, there was no imbalance in the relationship they had. They deserved _each other_\- that was a plain and simple fact.

But that didn't matter. Because even if she still had feelings for him (which she didn't), and no matter how true it was, that when she closed her eyes now, she could perfectly invision him, standing in front of her and smiling, that didn't mean anything.

Annabeth would _never _go back to him. He'd torn her heart into shreds, and then emotionlessly left her to deal with the pieces. To build herself up to what she was now- a strong, independent woman. And, she was happy, right? She had the perfect job, great friends, and a nice home. She lived in California, for god's sake. She'd had her fair share of other relationships, not that any had worked out.

Annabeth was sure that with time, she'd find the right person.

But Percy did really have an effect on her. It made her mind think- _But what if you already have?_

Going back to her home town wouldn't mean anything. She'd have Piper, and Piper would defend her- not let anybody touch her.

She looked closer at the email, and saw that she'll be designing an addition to a gym- one she'd actually been to before. It's nice that it's still there.

She forwarded Piper the email, so she can figure out logistics, and see if there is a job opening for a therapist there, and then decides to call Thalia, and let her know she's coming.

Thalia picked up at the first ring. "What's up Annie?" She said, using the nickname she knows Annabeth despises.

"It's Annabeth." Annabeth replied, and smiled. "So, I'm going to be coming over there."

After a couple of seconds, Thalia spoke. "Wait, seriously?"

"Yeah." 

Another pause. "Annabeth, that's awesome! I can't wait to see you!"

"Yeah, I'm excited too. Sort of nervous, but excited."

"Are you going to tell your dad?" Thalia asks her, and Annabeth shrugs, even though Thalia can't see her.

Annabeth bit her lip. "I kind of want it to be a surprise." She says, "Could you keep it a secret?"

"Sure," Thalia replies, "My lips are sealed."

There's silence for a while, an elephant in the room that needs to be led out.

"What about, you know?" Percy, yeah, Annabeth knows, and Thalia knows it too. That's the enormous elephant in the room.

Annabeth pretends not to care. She shouldn't, she should be over him by now, and she (maybe?) is. "I'll be fine. It's not like we'll ever bump into each other."

Thalia clicks her tongue in response. "It's a small town," She finally says. "Look, I gotta go, but text me more details later. I'm excited to see you."

Thalia hangs up, and Annabeth's sighs out loud, which makes a couple of people at work give her weird looks. Whatever. She has bigger things to deal with.

Those things, of course, being Percy.

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, cause *spoiler alert* it's kind of obvious, but our two buds (ew, never saying that again) will reunite!**

**Replies:**

**RandomFanAuthor, Currently, it's my favorite hobby (;**

**Rajkusri000, I'm glad you are! I'm having a fun time writing this, so I'm glad that people are enjoying it!**

**LeoIsMyJam, Yeah, that's totally right, a typo on my part (ugh, this is what happens when you don't thoroughly edit.) I'm glad that you're enjoying the story!**

**Leo Is The Bad Boy Supreme, Thanks so much! I'm grateful for all of your compliments!**

**Thanks for reading! See you all Wednesday!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	5. Chapter 5

**Next chapter is here! Thanks for all the support!**

**Disclaimer: Rick Riordan has a "k" in his name. I do not. I'll leave that as a hint. **

Percy squinted his eyes, not knowing how to react to the monstrosity in front of him.

"Doesn't it look cool?" Leo said, beckoning towards the gigantic monster of a truck. It was lined with a brownish-orange type color, accompanied with a clashing purple.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "No. Leo, please tell me we aren't actually going to use this. I don't want you to ruin your reputation forever."

"I think it's hot." Leo rolled his eyes jokingly. "Which is why I want _you _to drive it."

Now it was Percy's turn to roll his eyes. "No way. I'm not being seen with that."

"Come on Perce, Girls like stuff that's weird. They're going to notice this more nice looking truck." When Percy made no attempt at responding, Leo continued on. "Come on, you gotta get out more. I can't believe a guy like you has had as little action as you do."

"First of all, don't stereotype _women," _He put emphasis on the 'women part' "and second of all, I get… action." Percy said, cringing at his short of words

Leo punched Percy in the shoulder. "Maybe," He said, "But I don't think you've ever had a serious girlfriend, which I have," _Right,_ Percy reminded himself quickly, _Calypso. _"So, that means that I'm more romantically inclined then _you." _

Percy looked down at Leo, who stood a strountly five six to his six feet. "I've had a serious girlfriend before," He told him. But Leo wouldn't know about it. He'd moved here _after _Annabeth left for college, starting at the same school he went to though learning how to become a mechanic.

Leo's face transformed from cocky to amused in a second, which to be honest, wasn't much of a transformation. "Seriously," he said, smirking. "Who? I've never seen you with anyone."

"I was in a serious relationship in High School, up until college. We were in love."

Leo smiled again, despite Percy's pained expression. "What was her _name?_" He asked, obviously not believing a word Percy was saying.

"Annabeth Chase." This was the part where he should sigh dreamily, and then talk about how they were in a happy long distance relationship. But of course he couldn't, because, as he reminded himself everyday, _I completely and utterly screwed it up. _

It seemed now, Leo noticed the pained expression on his face, and seemed sympathetic. "Okay," He said. "I believe you. Why hasn't this come up before?"

Because maybe, Percy had been trying to move on. Maybe that was why he'd had flings, but nothing serious. It was because everytime he was reminded of her, everytime her name passed his mind, for seconds, sometimes even minutes, he was reduced to silence.

Case in point: when Grover, his best friend, who had gone to college close to here had mentioned her, by accident, just a couple months into school, he was basically mute the rest of the day.

Grover never made the mistake again.

And Percy had done his best to block her out, and forced himself to delete her contact and stay off her social media, where she would occasionally post about her time in California.

But that didn't make any difference, because Percy Instagram stalked her for ages until Grover had to take his phone and block her account for him.

The point of all of this being, is that no matter how many flings he'd had in the last six years, no matter how many times he had tried to block her out of his mind, and no matter how many texts he had started to write, but never sent (because he had memorized her number, deleting her contact would do nothing), he still wasn't over her.

But he hoped Annabeth was over him, because although he had broken both of their hearts, he was fine with her's healing, and his not.

"I'm sorry dude," Leo was saying, interrupting his thoughts. "I didn't know. I wouldn't have made so many dumb jokes about your love life if I'd known."

Percy shrugged it off. "It's fine man." He said, turning away from Leo, and shrugging. "I'm going back to the restaurant, I need to teach some swim lessons later at the gym, so I should go grab my bag and get going. Good luck getting this hunk of junk past Mr. D though. You know how he is about style."

"Shit," said Leo, obviously remembering that they had a boss currently on all the new trends. "He'll never allow this." 

Percy walked away. "Your problem, no mine, he said." to Leo's groans. "But hey, you can use your mechanic skills to fix it up. Don't you have your second job after this? You can bring it in."

Leo sighed from behind him. "Yeah. I probably should."

Percy walked away, back into the restaurant, which was now occupied by a Will and Nico, a couple, who were regulars, coming every week, and an old man Percy didn't know the name of. He took his apron off, which was a "fashion statement," as Mr. D called it, and grabbed his bag.

Pulling out his car keys, he opened up the driver's seat of his car, and sat down, jamming the key into the ignition and pulling out.

He taught swim lessons everyday after work at the restaurant, and then returned to help out customers, as it was a bed and breakfast. Mostly the breakfast part though- and they served lunch and dinner too. So it was more of a restaurant with an upstairs they rented out to visitors.

"Bed and Breakfast" sounded fancier though, so that's what they called themselves. Of course, with specification. They couldn't go around marketing as something they weren't.

Percy laughed to himself as he thought about this, continuing on his way to the local gym to get himself ready for lessons. Once he arrived, he quickly changed into his suit, and walked out to the main gym area. He then sat down on the bench for teachers (where coincidentally, he was the only one that sat, since he was the only teacher), and waited for students to show up.

The lessons soon began, and Percy taught the steady stream of regulars new strokes and games. Kids would always want to learn how to swim as long as there was a water slide near, which was probably why he had so many kids in the class.

After he said goodbye to the last student, he was called to the main office, which was really just a study where the gym owner sorted out payments and bills. The man said nothing important, just that an addition to the gym would be added, and that he should keep that in mind for lesson scheduling, to which Percy nodded, and told him he'd sort it out.

He excused himself from the room, and soon after, jumped into the pool to begin his daily work out, which he did every day before he returned to the bed and breakfast. Swimming always made him feel better, and it was good to have some positivity in his life.

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As I've said many times before, I really appreciate all the support, and I'm glad that you (my readers) like the story.**

**Next chapter will be posted Saturday! Watch out for that! If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the reviews, I'll be happy to answer them.**

**I was also just wondering, just to take note, who's your favorite character from the Riordanverse?**

**TheLil'Lion**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
**

**Disclaimer: Do I really have to come up with another clever way of saying I'm not Rick? Bleh. Maybe next time.**

When Annabeth boarded the plane to the one place she had been avoiding, she was not excited. She just felt dread. Obvious, impending, dred.

At least Piper was with her. And at least she knew she had a place to stay. They had chosen this bed and breakfast place that looked cozy, and rented out their upstairs to newcomers. Sure, she wasn't a newcomer, but it was close enough.

They boarded the plane, and took their seats, which _thank god, _were next to each other. Annabeth had only been to a place once or twice before, so she didn't know all the edicate, so it was nice that she had an experienced traveler like Piper with her.

Piper had traveled all around the world with her dad, Tristian Mclean, which meant she was a pro at traveling. When they were just getting to know each other, Annabeth learned that Piper was on the train to berkeley, because her father was shooting a scene in their little town, meaning Piper had to take the train to Berkeley.

Annabeth glanced over to Piper to see what she was doing, and saw the girl shoving her carry on bag under her seat, and stretching her arms out to achieve ample space.

Annabeth followed suit, and then looked around, noticing all the weird looks she and Piper were getting.

That didn't matter. She _always _got weird looks when being with Piper. For one, Piper was astoundingly beautiful, in the most effortless way. Annabeth practically wanted to be her when she grew up, Piper had this aesthetic look that followed her everywhere she went. Take a look at her instagram- although Piper came off as not-caring that much about appearance, her photos always managed to look effortlessly amazing.

On top of that, she was Tristian Mclean's daughter, meaning that she was bound to get a couple of amazed looks or even autograph requests wherever she was.

Continuing on, she turned to Piper, who was now picking at a hang-nail.

"So, do we just wait?"

Piper laughed. "You've been on a plane before, right?"

"Yeah, of course," Annabeth said. "But only once."

"Just from New York to California?" Piper asked.

Annabeth nodded in response. "So, the place we're staying at seems nice. I looked into the reviews, and although they're only a couple, it seemed good."

"That's good." Piper smiled. "Are you nervous about going back? I know about Percy-"

Annabeth cut her off. "Percy isn't going to disrupt anything. I'll be fine, you know, it's possible I won't even see him, I mean, the town's small, but most likely we'll avoid each other right?" Annabeth was babbling, but she found she couldn't stop each other.

Piper looked at her carefully. "You're over him, right?" She asked slowly.

Before Annabeth was able to answer, she was cut off by another voice. "Hey, are you Tristian Mclean's daughter?" She looked up, to see a dark haired girl who was leering over them. "Because you look a lot like her."

She turned to Piper, who flinched just the tiniest bit- but only enough for Annabeth to notice. Piper soon mustered a smile, "Yeah, that's me." She said, "He's my dad."

The girl looked down at her in awe. "That's so cool. Wow, could I get a picture? I've seen you at interviews before, you seem cool."

Piper smiled, though to Annabeth it seemed very forced. "Did you hear that Annabeth," She mustered. "She thinks I'm cool."

Annabeth looked up at the girl. "She's actually really a big nerd."

The girl looked unsure of what to say, and instead nodded awkwardly, taking out her camera, and Annabeth slunk out of her seat to let the girl take a picture. Once she was done, the girl chatted with Piper, who looked extremely uncomfortable, and then left.

When Annabeth sat back down with Piper, she cast a meaningful look at her. "Sorry about that."

"One interview with 'People' and everyone knows who you are." She said, and tried to laugh. "Really Annabeth, it's okay. I'm used to it. I just told her not to tell anyone, and she said yeah. We won't be bothered anymore."

Annabeth shook her head. "It's so weird, being friends with you-" Piper raised an eyebrow. "_Best friends," _Annabeth added, "Your life isn't private at all. I mean, I didn't even know who you were originally, but now, everywhere I look, Tristian Mclean is plastered everywhere across the walls."

"And I'm just a lowly old therapist." Piper said. "Yeah, I think Hollywood thought I'd follow Dad's footsteps, but nope, not me, never me. I like helping people, not making them forget their problems."

During the few times Annabeth and Piper had talked about their parents, Piper had seemed almost resentful of her father's fame. She obviously didn't like it one bit, and because of that, did her best to distance herself from her father. As long as Annabeth had known her, she'd only been in one interview (the "People" one, as aforementioned).

"You're not a lowly therapist," Annabeth said, "Well, you will be when we arrive at our destination. It's kind of a small town."

Piper squeezed her eyebrows together. "Like the ones in those romance novels?"

"Like the ones in those romance novels." Annabeth laughed at the irony that her high school story could have qualified as a plot in "one of those romance movies." Well, except for the break-up part. In romance novels, there was always a happy ending. _A happy ending, _Annabeth thought, _that I will never get. _

She looked up, to see Piper looking at her skeptically. "Wait, did I say that outloud?"

"Yeah." Piper said. "And speaking of romance, both of us have barely gotten an action. Moving to a new town will give us new opportunities to _date _when we aren't working."

"Seriously Piper?" This was not like her at all. Sure Piper had her fair share of relationships, and yeah, so had Annabeth in her college years, but she never took her as a romantic.

"Come on," Piper leaned toward her. "Tell me, are there any hot people in your hometown?"

Annabeth thought back to it. As she thought further and further, there was an exceptional amount of randomly attractive people in her old town. But of course, beauty was objective, so it really depended.

"Depends." Annabeth said. "What's your type?" She asked.

Piper shoved Annabeth lightly. "You know my type," Piper laughed. "I like blondies." Piper paused. "But also guys with dark curly hair." She paused again. "And I wouldn't mind full lips, but also-"

Annabeth cut her off. "This is so not you." She said, "Why are you suddenly getting all romantic?"

Piper waved her hand in front of her. "Must be all the air pressure." She said.

"Piper, we're not even flying yet."

She shrugged, and soon, they were indeed pushing off and flying. _Hometown, _Annabeth thought, _Here I come. _

_Percy, here I come. _

**In this chapter, I wanted to develop Annabeth and Piper's friendship a little more, so I hope you enjoyed it. **

**I hope you guys enjoyed it, and please, let me know what you think in the reviews! I love reading all of your comments, they all make me feel really happy and motivated!**

**Also, to all of my "Knelt By Her Notebook" readers, I was thinking about making a short little sequel. I don't know how big it would be, but after I finish this, I'd probably work on that. It wouldn't be as big as "Knelt by Her Notebook," probably ten to fifteen chapters. I don't know. I'd like to hear (or read… I guess?) what you guys think before I commit to anything.**

**Stay safe and healthy everyone! Next chapter is going to be posted Monday!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven is here! I hope you guys enjoy it. This may or may not be when our lovers reunite (I'm not telling you…)**

**Disclaimer: I'm not cool enough to be Rick Riordian.**

Percy shrugged his shoulders as he walked into the Bed and Breakfast, ready to work again, but this time, in the upstairs. Apparently, a couple people were coming tomorrow to stay for the long term, which meant Percy had the amazing job of cleaning out the room.

The last costumer's they had, had done some questionable things around the room, which they left for the staff to clean up, which the staff (subject: Percy) had faithfully ignored.

But because they didn't want their online rating to go down (it was pretty high), Percy was fated with the task of cleaning that, which he dutifully did, just as any good guy would.

Two hours later, and even more disgust later, the room was clean. Percy flung the bag of trash that had been slowly accumulating more and more over his shoulder, and brought it out of the room. He stretched his arms, and walked downstairs to the restaurant, beginning his night shift as a waiter. A handful of people came in for quick bites, and soon left after they were served.

Dakota- his hyper co-worker greeted people (that's all they trusted him with) and Percy would take orders and serve food. At eight pm, Percy's shift ended, and he and Dakota closed the restaurant up for the night together, while then going their separate ways.

Percy went to a nearby bar, where he ordered a drink, and drank to himself, sitting on the bar table. This was his normal routine- although he had friends, he always ended the night feeling lonely.

"Hey," A voice came from behind him, and Percy smiled as he turned around.

"Hey." Percy said, looking up at Rachel. Rachel had moved here last year, and she and Percy had become past friends. Sure, they had stepped those bounds before, once, but Percy still, after all these years, couldn't take being with someone that wasn't' Annabeth. And Rachel understood, he hoped.

"You come here often?" Rachel said, her eyes bright as she sat next to Percy.

He smiled. "Yeah, every night."

Rachel shoved his arm, and Percy looked away, still smiling. "You loner. Why don't you ever invite me?"

"I don't know." Percy said. "I just don't."

"Well now I'm coming every night, just to bother you." Rachel said, and put her hand on Percy's neck, guiding him over to look at her.

Percy shook his head. "I guess so."

"So," Rachel asked him. "What's new? I feel like we haven't talked in a while."

That was partially Percy's fault. He'd been avoiding her since he had told her he just wanted to be friends. "I'm doing okay. Some new people are renting the place above the restaurant so I had to clean that up. The swim lessons have been okay. The gym's getting renovated. How about you?"

"Well, I got a position as the art teacher at a middle school. I sometimes wonder if the kids there have more sophisticated humor than me, but then I remember they still laugh at fart jokes, so I'd call it even."

Percy laughed. This was Rachel, random, funny, and happy. This is why he had wanted to be her friend, he remembered. This was the reason he had talked to her about just being friends in the first place. "That's awesome. Which school?"

"Hampsbrooke." Rachel told him, "Weird name, I know."

"I actually used to go there. It's a pretty nice school. I mean, I hated it there when I went, middle school sucks ass, but looking back on it, the teachers were good."

"Well, I hope I can make art good, at least a little bit. They're still trying to find a cover for the old art teacher who they fired for arson to school property. Apparently he'd burn random stuff and call it art."

"I never took art, but I had friends who did, and they definitely complained about a Mr. Williams who did exactly that. I think one of my friends had their pants set on fire." _Annabeth. _She'd come to lunch one day in new pants (really ugly ones at that) from the lost and found, and complained the entire day about it.

Rachel laughed again, "That's funny," she said, checking the time. "I gotta go, but I'll see here tomorrow, it was nice catching up." She got up from her seat, and turned to him, pecking him on the cheek.

"Rachel…" Percy said hesitantly, reminding her of what they had agreed.

"I give all my freind's kisses on the cheeks." Rachel said. "It's french, makes me feel a bit more sophisticated than a middle school art teacher."

Percy nodded hesitantly, "Okay, but you remember what we talked about, right?"

Rachel's smile dipped in the slightest, and if you hadn't been paying attention, you wouldn't have noticed. But Percy was, and when this happened, he felt his heart drop the tiniest bit, an overwhelming feeling of dread coming over him.

"Yeah," she said, her smile returning as fast as it had fallen. "I remember, and I respect your wishes. But if you ever change your mind-" she said, her eyes looking hopeful.

Percy placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll let you know." He pulled out his wallet, and left out enough money for both Rachel, and his drink. Handing it to the bartender, he smiled at Rachel. "Bye. It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah, it was." Rachel said, her tone almost… sad. "I'll see you tomorrow. Same place, same time, right?"

Percy nodded. "Right."

**Oh, did you think they were going to reunite? **

**Okay, to be honest, I thought they would, but the story didn't write like that, so here we are. And you guys know I would never keep Annabeth and Percy apart forever. **

**But, we need some Drama. So boom! Here it is, I introduced another character that may cause conflict. I didn't want to show her as mean or rude because that wouldn't be Rachel, that would just be a rude, carbon copy of her, but I do want to make it so she can stir up the story a bit. (Sorry Rachel)**

**Anyway, what did you guys think? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter. What do you predict will happen in the next few chapters? **

**Oh, and about the sequel: Because it looks like a lot of you wanted it, I'll be working on the sequel for the next couple of weeks, since because of COVID-19, I have a lot of time on my hands. It may be a bit shorter than I originally intended, perhaps ten chapters, but it'll have a lot more Percabeth fluff moments than Knelt By Her Notebook did. More information on my profile, and on a separate chapter on KBHK. **

**TheLil'Lion**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! I hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If I had made Percy Jackson, there would be AT LEAST two scenes of Grover furiously stress-eating enchiladas. **

Annabeth arrived in town at ten o'clock the next day. She had taken a plane, to a train just like she had done last time, this time actually _knowing _Piper.

The train ride was quiet, as Piper slept through most of it, while Annabeth quietly texted Thalia on her phone about their return, and Piper.

Thalia and Piper hadn't met yet, and Annabeth was especially worried about how they would react to each other. At first glance, Piper and Thalia would look like people from opposite worlds. Plus, they had clashing personalities, both outspoken, and both stubborn with their opinions.

She just hoped they'd have the same opinions, or else, this might be chaos. Plus, she was worried about competition, these were her two best friends after all.

But on the other hand, maybe they'd like each other, and get along a bit _too well_? It would be nice, but Annabeth was still worried about that. And it wasn't like she could voice her concern to Piper, because she was sleeping.

And when she was texting Thalia, she used purposefully vague language, to the point she knew Thalia herself had probably realized it. Eventually, Thalia said she had to go, and Annabeth decided to get some sleep too.

So she slept through the rest of the train ride, until the train pulled to a stop, and it was time to unload. Annabeth had packed light, only bringing what she needed, which fit into about four individual bags. Piper had the same amount, and they had mutually decided they would go to a furniture store to get the apartment set up.

Annabeth held a taxi, and then they were off to the main town, off to the bed and breakfast.

"So," Annabeth said to Piper. "Are you excited?"

Piper nodded. "I guess so. It's going to be nice to help some of the kids here." 

The driver interrupted their conversation, looking back ever so slightly, and smiling. "Oh, are you guys new in town?" He said.

Piper nodded, while Annabeth shook her head. "No, not me," Annabeth said. "I'm coming back. I grew up here,"

"When did you move away?"

Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "I'd say about six years ago. I moved to California."

The driver nodded, understanding. "Anything to escape here, right?"

Piper, who had been watching the interaction between Annabeth and the bus driver interjected. "Wait, what's wrong with this place?"

Annabeth and the driver exchanged knowing looks, and despite not knowing each other, it seemed like they were connected in some way. That connection being this town. "There's nothing wrong," Annabeth said slowly, "It's just, this town, it-" Annabeth hesitated before saying anything bad about the place. It was her hometown, after all.

"It's the kind of place that doesn't let you leave." The driver interrupted, helping Annabeth out. "Ask about ninety percent of the people here where they grew up, and they'll say here. Not many people leave." The driver nodded at Annabeth. "How'd you?" He asked.

Annabeth tapped her head. "Got into a good college. Scholarship too," She added. "A lot of people here go to the local college, and those that go to colleges farther away always make their way back, at least, that's what my parents and friends' parents have told me."

"The town always has some type of hand on you," The driver murmured. "Like a fish tank. Lets you take a little time away from the tank for cleaning, and then bring you back in once you're done."

Annabeth nodded. "But don't worry," She said, looking at Piper's worried expression. "It's a nice town. People are inviting. A little _too _inviting sometimes, but it'll be nice." She sighed, "And then we'll go back to California, and all will be fine."

"Okay," Piper nodded, and smiled. "That's good."

"Well," the driver said, after a couple moments of silence. "We have arrived. I'm Chiron, by the way, if you ever need a ride, I'm one of the only cabs around here. And the other one manages the other side of town, so it'll most likely be me."

"Annabeth," Annabeth replied, "And this is Piper." She said. "It was nice to meet you Chiron, I guess I'll be seeing you around, we don't have a car, so we'll be relying on Taxis."

Chiron smiled, and quickly helped them with their bags, before driving off.

"Well," Piper said, "I'm totally not nervous at all."

Annabeth laughed, trying to push away her own feelings. "You don't need to be," she said, and advised herself to take that advice too. "It'll be fine." She looked up at the sign, which read the name of the place in a big, bold, yet fancy script.

Adjusting her bag, she smiled reassuringly. "Let's head on in."

The place wasn't crowded- it had a normal number of patrons in it. Annabeth walked over to the host, and smiled. The host- a tall boy whose hands wouldn't stop moving. He was endlessly hyper. "Welcome," he said, "I'll lead you to some seats, and a waiter will come over shortly."

"Sorry," Annabeth said, blinking quickly, "I'm not here for that. We rented the room up top? Under the name 'Chase'?"

The boy blinked. "Oh!" he said, embarrassed. "Sorry, I'll have our waiter lead you up. Right this way." The boy motioned towards the back of the restaurant, and Annabeth and Piper followed.

"Hey! Waterboy!" The boy shouted into the back. "The renting people have arrived! Lead them up to their room."

"Coming," a voice called out, and to Annabeth it seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She pulled out her phone, which had just buzzed with a text from Thalia, asking if they had arrived, and began to respond.

And she was confused by the next thing she heard.

The drop of a towel, and: "Shit."

Annabeth's head snapped up, trying to see what had happened. But all she saw was…

Tan skin, green eyes, jet black hair.

"_You." _She hissed, as she recognized the face.

"You?" The boy who had broken her heart said, almost confused.

"Who?" Dakota said, as he looked between the two of them, unaware of the intensity settling between them. Piper, who looked just as confused as Leo, exchanged a glance with him, and both of them, almost in unison, slowly backed away from the fire that was now beginning to burn.

And it wasn't just any old fire; it was a forest flame.

**So they reunited! Yay! Okay, so yeah, it wasn't a happy reunion, but at least it was there! (please don't kill me, I promise that happy stuff will come up… eventually)**

**Also, to leoisthebadboysupreme, thank you so much for reading and reviewing my other one-shots/stories! I can't tell you how much I appreciated that, it really made my day. I don't know what else to say, other than that, but know that made me so, so happy.**

**TheLil'Lion**

**P.S: Stay safe and healthy! Next chapter will be out on Saturday! Additionally, I think that I'll be posting some one-shots sometime in the next couple of days. I have a bunch of them I need to edit, and I like to share them with you guys.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it!**

Percy didn't know _what_ to feel. Yeah, he was confused, and yeah, he was half scared shit-less, because in front of him was Annabeth. And wasn't it just _amazing, _just freaking _peachy, _that she'd shown up just when he'd been thinking about her- just when she'd come up in conversation the previous day?

It made Percy want to barf. "Yeah," Annabeth said, shaking her head, not paying attention to Dakota, and that girl who had come with her, who was slowly backing away. "Just my luck. Shit."

God, she wasn't going to make this easy for him, was she? "Yeah. That's some pretty shitty luck we've had."

Annabeth looked at him, her eyes narrowing. "There is no 'we' Percy, you gave that up when you broke up with me. Shit, we- I mean, I should be over this."

"Yeah." Percy said, looking away. "Um, do you still want me to show you up?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No, I don't _want _you to, I don't _want _you to do anything. But apparently, you're the only person here to do it, so I guess I have to."

Percy knew Annabeth well. He knew her really well, exceptionally well, they'd known each other since forever. They'd always been devoted to each other, even before they had started to date. Percy knew they could never be friends again, but she didn't have to be so… so everything. "Please," Percy said, but it came out more like a plea. "Please, make this easy for me, okay?"

"Easy?" Annabeth scoffed. "You don't deserve it."

Percy sighed. "I'm not looking for anything else. Hell, you don't even have to talk to me, I'll just tell you about the place, and then I'll see my way out. Let's just… get this over with."

Annabeth didn't say anything, which meant there was no objection. "Right this way," Percy said, and then opened the door up for the stairs, holding it out for them to go through. The girl who was next to Annabeth hurried over to the door, looking somewhat eager, her bag in one hand, and her phone in the other. Percy, almost at once, noticed how pretty she was. Exceptionally pretty.

He turned to Annabeth, to see her grabbing her two bags, and grunting as she carried them. "Goddamnit Piper," she said.

Percy shook his head. "Come on, let me help you." Annabeth simply looked up at him, with the look of a person who had just blown up a building. "Please?" He said, realizing immediately how Piper- the girl, he assumed, who was with her, was pretty to him, but Annabeth was attractive.

"No." Annabeth muttered, shoving Percy away. He sighed, and held the door as she made her way up the stairs. After she had made it to the top, he closed the door, and walked up the stairs, alone.

Once he got to the top of the stairs, he saw Annabeth quietly whispering to Piper, both with grimace's on their faces. They fell silent as soon as they saw him, and Percy sighed again, knowing she probably hated him. And that was good, right? That was the point of this all, for her to move on.

He should feel happy for her.

So why did he feel like something was missing? Like the piece of him that had already been taken away pulled off another bit too? "Um," Percy cleared his throat. "It's that door right next to you. Here are the keys," he said, putting his hand in his pocket to get them out.

They touched nothing, and Percy realized he had left them downstairs. "Shit," he said, his mouth so dry it sounded more like a croak. "I, uh, forget them downstairs. One sec."

Annabeth looked at him skeptically, and Percy, tripped down the stairs as fast as he could, and fumbled with the door, opening it. "Shit, shit, shit," he repeated, his body feeling heavy, like he was going to collapse on the floor. He put his hand to his forehead, and felt it. It was wet with sweat. "Shit," He said again, opening the drawer they kept the key's in, and pulling two out.

His head was pounding, so much, god, why did this have to be happening? Why did Annabeth have to hate him? Why was he so screwed up by this, six years later?

Leo came through the back door, to see Percy, leaning against a counter, keys in hand, and legs pulled close to his chest. "What the hell happened?" Leo said, rushing over to him. "Dude, are you okay?"

"No." Percy said, gulping for air, trying to breath. "My ex is renting out the apartment above."

"Shit," Leo breathed. "Here," He said. "Give me those keys, I'll finish up upstairs. Dakota's up front again, so you can go on with your waiter duties."

Percy nodded. "Thanks so much." He said, pulling himself up.

"That's what friends are for man," Leo said. "And dude, if you ever want to talk about emotions and shit, I'm here."

He nodded again at Leo, and then left the area, heading to the front of the restaurant. Thank god for Leo, if it wasn't for him, he'd probably go up and make a fool of himself. God, what was wrong with him? He was hung up on a girl he'd dated years ago. A girl he hadn't talked to in _forever. _Maybe he should talk to Rachel- maybe that would help him. He could even try dating.

But look at him now, it would obviously be no use? Seeing Annabeth in person hurt him worse than he had imagined. It was sad how fast it took Annabeth to reject him. Not even give him a chance to explain himself- even though he made no obvious move too.

And the thing about dating, is that as he remembered from before, he had tried dating. He had tried, and he had failed, and every time he went on one, after it, he would down a drink and never talk to the girl he had gone out with again.

Rachel was the exception, he had dated her longer, mostly because she was so persistent. And when he had explicitly told her he just wanted to be friends, although it took a while, she backed off, and Percy was grateful for that.

But maybe this was all a sign- Annabeth coming and all. Maybe it was the universe giving him another chance, telling him, "hey, you screwed up once, don't do it again."

And Percy knows it's in his best interest to take that chance.

**Okay, this was an angsty reunion, and I apologize for it. I do hope that you guys noticed I tried to end everything on a hopeful note. I don't know if I did that successfully. So guys, I didn't mean to make this depressing (well, maybe that's a lie), it just sort of came out.**

**I'd love to hear (or read) what you think in the reviews! They all just fuel my motivation, and make me want to write more.**

**Thanks for all the support!  
**

**TheLil'Lion **

**P.S: Stay healthy and safe! Next chapter will be out Wednesday!**


	10. Chapter 10

… **Did I say I was updating Wednesday? Yes. Was saying I was updating Wednesday a typo? Also yes. Do I own Percy Jackson? No. **

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

Once Annabeth and Piper were safely in their room, Annabeth fell onto a couch which was already in the room, her hands on her face, in exasperation.

"Okay," Piper started. "Can you tell me _what the hell_ just happened out there?"

Annabeth mumbled into her hands. "I don't want to talk about it."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Well I do. _What the hell _Annabeth? You totally just obliterated that guy."

Annabeth simply groaned in response.

Piper's eyes softened. "Was that your ex?" She said, and Annabeth nodded. "Shit, well that makes things bad." Annabeth nodded again. "Annabeth," Piper said. "I think he still loves you."

Annabeth shook her head. "He was the one who broke up with me, you remember, right? We talked about it, Percy Jackson, the dumb guy who broke my heart?"

"I hadn't seen him. All I had seen was your perspective. And to be honest, in that state you were in, and still are in, it was pretty subjective. I've seen Percy now, I've seen how he looked at you, even though you were mad at him, even though you took it upon yourself to 'sic' yourself on him, he loves you."

"How do you know?"

"It's so damn obvious Annabeth." Piper rolled her eyes again, and Annabeth wondered if they would get stuck up there. "Are you sure you're over him?"

"Completely and utterly." Annabeth replied, not seeing any truth in her own words, but still saying them anyway. It wasn't Piper's business to know what she was feeling. Because none of it mattered, and Annabeth was at peace, and most of all complacent, with her life now. Hell, she probably wouldn't see Percy anywhere but here. She could probably go about her day with having to see him.

And with her new job, she would be busy as ever, meaning maybe, she wouldn't even have to see him here. Annabeth was excited about her new job; it was doing something she loved, and it would help her get some closure.

Closure, that was what she needed. Not just from Percy- but from this town. She needed to get used to everything, slip into a daily routine, and resolve… everything.

Being hung up on Percy would make this entire trip unbearable, which meant distraction was what she needed. Reconnecting with people she had lost touch with when she left was important, talking to Thalia, and others would help. Maybe she could even meet someone new.

"Okay," Annabeth said, picking herself off the couch. "So I want you to meet Thalia."

Piper looked at her quizzically. "Your _other _best friend?"

"Yes, my other best friend. I think you guys will get along." Annabeth winced. "Well, I hope." She said. "And when I start working tomorrow, we can figure out other social arrangements. It'll be fun."

"Social arrangements?" Piper said. "You sound like a European grandma trying to set up her son with my daughter."

Annabeth clicked her tongue. "Maybe I am." She said, and just as Piper started to roll her eyes (again) Annabeth cut her off. "If you do that, your eyes are going to get stuck up there."

"See," Piper said, completely disregarding her statement. "European grandma."

Annabeth couldn't help but laugh. It was nice talking to Piper. Made her feel a bit more adjusted, and made her forget. In fact, days later after Percy had broken up with her, Piper had distracted her enough to go bowling. Which was impressive, since the previous day she had stayed on her dorm bed, groaning. Her roommate thought she was insane. And maybe she had been. Maybe she still was.

"Whatever," Annabeth responded, "European Grandma or not, I think that _as a distraction, _we need to talk, maybe I can try to introduce you to Thalia today."

"Distraction?" Piper smirked, "Pfft, that's you. It'll be fun for me."

Annabeth ignored her, and went on to text Thalia. "Hey," she typed. "Do you want to meet up somewhere today?" She sent the text, clicked her phone off, and looked up at Piper, who was glancing at her quizzically.

"What?" She asked Piper.

Piper smiled quickly. "Nothing. I'm just nervous about meeting your friend. She seems like she means a lot to you. I don't want to screw anything up. I can stay back if you want me too."

Annabeth nudged Piper. "I _want _you to meet her. Plus, you may get to meet her brother. He's definitely your type."

"Blonde?" Piper questioned, and Annabeth laughed, thinking about the plane ride yesterday.

"Blonde." Annabeth affirmed, forcing herself to smile. "So you'll come."

"Yeah." Piper said, and smiled herself, but as opposed to Annabeth's smile it wasn't forced. Annabeth wished she could be happy, and she was happy to see Thalia, but it felt like a distraction. From Percy.

She wasn't _supposed _to feel this way. She was supposed to be over him, because all they were, were high school sweethearts. It wasn't fair that her feelings for him still existed- though they were complicated by heartbreak and loneliness.

It wasn't fair that her heart had tightened, ever so slightly when she saw him. It wasn't fair that whenever she closed her eyes, she could imagine Percy's sea green eyes that had always made her internally swoon. His dark, raven colored hair which was hopelessly unruly, somehow making him even more attractive. It was like every part of him was perfect to her, even though Percy himself wasn't.

Because as he had said years ago, it wasn't ever going to work out, and Annabeth should have been accustomed to that. She has had _years _to become accustomed to that. It's horrible she hasn't. People are supposed to get over their past relationships, not be trapped under them.

But dating hasn't worked, distancing herself hasn't worked. And closure, right now, sure isn't working. Seeing him made the feelings she had been trying to ignore for years become greater, which was not acceptable.

So the last thing she could do was avoid him at all cost. And Thalia _despised _Percy, so hanging out with her would not only let them reconnect in person, but also give her a way to stay _far, far _away from Percy Jackson.

Even if her heart was telling her "no," her brain, the only sense of logic she had, was telling her "yes."

**So with this chapter, I wanted to show that Annabeth doesn't HATE Percy, she's just having a difficult time battling her emotions. It's one of those complicated emotional bundles that leads you to questioning what someone **_**actually **_**thinks.**

**Also, I don't know if anyone noticed, but I made a cover for this story (and for some of my others)! With this website's format, it's hard to see, but tell me what you think of it and the chapter!**

**TheLil'Lion**

**P.S: One, stay safe and healthy! Two, the next chapter is out Wednesday (for real this time)! Three, happy tenth chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter! I think some of you might have missed the chapter I posted on Monday, (chapter 10), so I'm just putting this here as a note (just in case).**

**Disclaimer: I'd be a narcissist if I was Rick Riordan- and I'm not, so there's that.**

He'd thought about it for thirty minutes, what he was going to do to get Annabeth back, and each idea that popped into his head was worse than the first. Kiss her, try to remind her what she was missing on a physical stance? No, she'd probably slap him in the head. Find a way to see her as much as he could? No, that was creepy, stupid, and she'd probably catch on. Ghost her completely? She wouldn't care at all. He'd be doing her a favor.

Let's just say all of the others weren't any better. They just proved how stupid he was for letting her go in the first place. Sure, there would be a low chance of them succeeding- long distance relationships worked sometimes, but in a lot of cases, they didn't.

And he was endlessly confused about why he wanted her as much as he did. It had been six years, after all. Most people get over past relationships within _six months. _

His phone buzzed, jolting him out of his thoughts. A text, from Jason. "Hey," It read. "I'm hanging out with my sister and some of her friends that are coming into town. Wanna come?"

_Annabeth, _Percy thought all of a sudden, _Annabeth is new. She's friends with Thalia, _his mind elaborated.

Percy typed back as fast as he could. "Sure, location?" He asked.

"Brookmore Park." Jason replied, "I'll see you in thirty minutes?"

Percy sent a thumbs up emoji. Brookmore Park was about five minutes away from here, which meant he could finish his shift, and then head over right after it ended. And since Leo was here, Percy was sure he would cover him.

He grinned to himself, and began to finish clearing up some tables that had been left unoccupied from the half an hour Percy had spent not working. He picked up the plates, and carried them to the kitchen, setting them next to the sink, for the chefs to clean.

Checking his watch again, he frowned, seeing not much time had passed. It was annoying. Sure, he liked his job, but right now, it was not the time for one second to start feeling like eternity.

But how the _hell _could only two minutes have passed? He'd walked super slowly to the sink, and lowered the plates down even slower.

He thought about it- if he did that fifteen times, thirty minutes would have passed.

Another bad idea (it seemed that he didn't have much good ideas at all.)

_Instead of biding my time, _Percy decided, _Maybe I should just do things normally. _Plus, it wasn't like Annabeth would be waiting on him. She wouldn't even expect him to be there. In fact, he wasn't even sure the "new friends" Jason was talking about were Annabeth and that girl- Piper.

(Okay, well he did know that, he was pretty sure of it in fact).

Twenty five boredom filled minutes later, Percy grabbed his messenger bag, asked Leo if he could cover his next shift if needed, and rushed out of the restaurant. He pulled out his car keys, and jammed then into the ignition, pulling out of his spot, and heading to the park.

In reality, he didn't _need _to use his car, the walk wasn't that long, but he did _want _to get there before Annabeth. If he walked, it would take him five minutes, which sure, was his original plan. But if he drove, it took two minute's tops, and it was good exercise.

Percy loved his car- and despite the fact that it was stereotypical for a guy to love his car, he did. Sure, it wasn't amazing. And yeah, occasionally it could break down, but it was uniquely him.

And he needed that sometimes, to remind himself, _yes, I do have a personality. _

Upon his arrival to Brookmore Park, he found a good parking spot, and hopped out of the seat. Percy walked towards the main area of the park, eyes open, looking for Jason.

Once he saw him, he rushed over, patting the guy on the back. It had been a while since they had gotten together. Percy had been busy with work, and swim lessons, and life, overall. Jason, who owned a therapy center nearby, had been trying to look for someone new to hire, after one of the previous therapists quit.

"Hey Man," Percy said. "How's life been?"

Jason smiled as he saw Percy. "Not bad, not bad. I just wanted to let you know that Thalia just told me it was Annabeth who was coming. I'm sorry bro, I didn't know before. I know what happened between you two-"

Percy shook his head. "It's fine, I was expecting it would be them."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Why?" He asked, and then smirked at him, in realization. "Are you trying to win her back?"

Percy felt his face heating up, and nodded, almost ashamed at how fast Jason had tried to pick this up. But, Percy remembered, he did own a therapy center, which meant he had to be pretty good at understanding human behavior.

"Are you sure she wants that?" Jason said. "I mean, I'd think she'd be mad at you or something."

"Oh," Percy shook his head. "She's not mad, she's absolutely pissed."

Jason cocked his head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"She's renting out the apartment on top of the restaurant with her friend."

"Wow." Jason breathed. "I guess that'll make it pretty easy for you to see her." he said, switching his expression from smiling to frowning, like he didn't know what his reaction to this should be.

And as if on cue, he saw Thalia in the distance, arm around Annabeth, with another girl walking over to the side- Piper, the person who didn't know Thalia.

Jason sighed. "Well this will certainly be… something."

"Yeah." Percy said, waiting for impact- when Annabeth would realize it was him, Percy Jackson, the friend of Jason who was coming.

Percy rubbed his hands together. _Even if this doesn't go well, _he told himself, _it'll be the first step to getting Annabeth back, and that's what's most important._

As they got closer, he could Annabeth's pupil's dilate, eyebrows aiming down, her expression turning cold.

Thalia saw this, and looked up to Percy. "What are _you _doing here?"

**I'm sorry guys, this chapter was mainly filler so I could be set up for the next chapter. Also, I've been having a bit of writer's block (which always sucks), so there's that too.**

**Anyway, I thought I'd be able to get a lot of work done on this story, the KBHK sequel, and some one-shots, and I'm trying my best, but writer's block is really killing me. But don't worry, I'll be working on this story no matter what (and another story after that, and so on).**

**On another note, what did you think of the chapter? What do you predict will happen next? I'd love to hear your thoughts!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! Here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Does anyone actually read these? I put (maybe) too**__**much effort into creating unique ways to say I'm not Rick Riordan, so if no one actually looks at them then… okay.**

"It's my fault." Jason jumped in quickly, and Annabeth noticed Percy casting him a meaningful look. "I forget about the whole thing between you two, and I invited him, I'm sorry."

Thalia slapped him over the head (playfully, obviously), once they got close enough. "How could you forget?" She asked him. "Jason, this was supposed to-" she looked at Percy quickly. "Let her, you know."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Jason raised his hands. "I forgot, but since he's here.."

_No, _Annabeth thought, but didn't say anything. She looked over at Piper, who was standing off to the side, staring at Jason. _Of course, _Annabeth remembered, _blondies. _

Piper had been awkward the entire time they had talked to Thalia, and Annabeth really wanted them to get along. She would feel bad about starting all of this on an even worse note by kicking Percy out. She could do this, for Piper.

"It's fine." Annabeth interrupted. "I'm over it." Percy looked at her with surprise, but she just ignored him. "Percy can stay, I don't care."

Piper snapped out of her little trance, to look up at Annabeth, in surprise. "What?" She whispered to her. "Why would you do that?" Piper continued.

_For you, dumbass, _Annabeth thought, but decided to keep to herself. She tried to smile. "How about we go on a walk." She asked. "Piper, I have to ask Thalia something real quick, why don't you go talk to Jason."

Jason looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. Sure, Jason and her hadn't talked since she and Percy had broken up, but he hoped that he would understand what she was trying to do. She wanted to make sure Piper was having a nice time, and not awkward.

She looked over at Piper, who was blushing. "What the hell Annabeth?" She said, "That's going to be awkward."

Annabeth laughed. "Blondies." She then said.

Piper glared at her, and then walked over to Jason. She looked over at Percy, who was staring at her. Once they made eye contact, Percy quickly shook his head and turned away. He muttered something under his breath, and started walking between the two rows of people- Jason and Piper, Thalia and Annabeth.

Annabeth almost felt bad for him. He looked so… pathetic.

Thalia was laughing at her. "Are you trying to set up my brother and your friend?"

"Maybe." Annabeth smirked.

"I don't know how I feel about this," Thalia shook her head, "But I'll go along with your nefarious deeds. How's life been Annie."

"Normal," Annabeth said, "You know, tomorrow I'm going to be designing a new edition on site at this gym."

"Oh, which one?" Thalia smiled at her, knowing there was only one gym they could be talking about.

Annabeth nudged her. "You know," She said, looking back up at Percy, who was now scrolling through his phone. "Look," Annabeth said, "He looks positively pathetic. Why don't we walk with him. I don't want to feed the awkwardness."

Thalia immediately frowned. "Why are you getting all soft on him?" She asked. "An hour ago, you were crying."

Annabeth winced, trying to push that thought out of your head. "Look, I feel bad about it. I sense he does too. I'm still mad at him, but for the time being, how about we just call a truce?"

Thalia rolled her eyes, "I don't like the idea of it, but I'll go with it." She looked up at Percy. "Hey asshole!" She shouted, and Percy turned immediately, "Come over here, you look pathetic."

Annabeth wanted to laugh at the fact he immediately knew she was referring to him, but Percy looked so sad, that she didn't want to make things worse. Percy waited for them to catch up with him, holding up his phone. Annabeth let her eyes look at what was on his screen- a contact, named Rachel.

Who the _hell _was Rachel?

"Hey Annabeth." Percy said, smiling forcedly, to the point even Annabeth could notice it. "Thalia." He nodded at her.

Annabeth looked away, blushing. Through everything, she hadn't noticed how… handsome- no, that wasn't the right word, straight _hot, _he had become. He'd always been attractive, good looking, whatever you wanted to call it, but right now he was just.

"Damn." Annabeth couldn't help but mutter under her breath- hopefully Percy hadn't heard, and by the looks of it, he hadn't. But honestly, toned muscles, messy hair, piercing eyes, a swoonable body.

He was something more than hot. She looked over at Thalia, who obviously wasn't experiencing the same wave of heat as she was.

"How's Cali?" Percy asked, his voice smooth yet almost, in the tiniest way imaginable, weak, and vulnerable.

Annabeth shrugged. "It's good. Normal. My firm is nice. I've made some friends."

"Are you seeing anyone?" He asked, and Thalia practically choked.

"Uh," Annabeth stared him down. "No. I've dated a bit, but no one right now." She added.

Percy nodded. "That's good." He cut himself off. "I mean it's not good, obviously you want to have a fulfilled dating life, but, I mean, cool," he stuttered. "That is good information to have."

"What about you?" Thalia interjected, surprising Annabeth. _Why would she care, _Annabeth thought, _is there something that she wants him to tell me. _

"I've messed around." Percy said. "Nothing serious." He said everything in a rush- super quickly, so it sounded like a lie.

Thalia furrowed her eyebrows. "I don't think so. I heard that you were dating Rachel Dare." She said.

"Oh. RED?" Percy said. "That was two months, I-I broke it off. Um," He added, "We haven't talked since then."

Rachel? Wasn't she the girl on his phone- the contact Annabeth had seen. "Are you lying?" Annabeth asked.

Percy looked surprised. See this was why Annabeth should have a word filter on at all times- she should have thought before she spoke. "You don't have to answer that." She said quickly, and Percy just looked at her.

He stared, his eyes full of something that Annabeth couldn't identify, it was weird.

And even after they had hung out, after Piper had told her, almost sadly, that Jason was actually her new boss, and the whole set-up wouldn't work, after she had eaten, after she had searched through her email, she couldn't quite identify it.

It was only that night, when she was laying in her bed, that she realized what it was. It was something she saw every morning when she looked in the mirror at herself- even if it was just a flicker.

_Regret. _

**Another sad chapter, sorry guys, there is going to be a lot of these. (Angst is one of the categories I put this in, so…)**

**Some people have been asking, and I'd like to clear something up: I have an update schedule! As long as I don't say otherwise, I'll always update Monday's, Wednesday's, and Saturday's!**

**Anyway, let me know what you think! I'm sorry to say that happy stuff will come later on (probably way later on) as the plot develops. Also, the KBHK sequel is going to come later than expected, probably after this story is finished (sorry guys, I've been busier than expected, and have taken on too many writing projects at one time).**

**Stay safe and healthy! Much love to you all! I appreciate all of the support!**

**TheLilLion**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey all! Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not superstitious, but thirteen is known as an unlucky number. What would be lucky, is if I owned Percy Jackson. But I don't. So there you go.**

Percy didn't know what to feel. Happy, sad, relieved, even hopeful, it was all a weird mess of feelings that talking with Annabeth (and Thalia) had given him. And despite having a therapist friend, he didn't know how to manage them.

At least it hadn't been a total disaster, Percy didn't know how he would be able to manage that, it would be _awful. _

He was lucky that after, he only had to work a couple of hours, and then he was off to the pool. Today, there was a group lesson, but only one of them, which meant he could swim until he had to go back to work.

Then the bar, obviously, and he winced, remembering Rachel would be there. It wasn't that it was bad- it was nice having a friend, a female one at that. And maybe, he would be able to talk to her about Annabeth (he wasn't betting on it, but it was a nice thought).

The group lesson went by fast, time went by fast whenever Percy was near water- swimming was like a sixth sense he had. The feeling of the water against his skin? Brilliant. How it could just make him let go- forget about all his problems, even for just a moment? Soothing.

But of course, it couldn't last long. Because soon, he was up and out, and mostly dried off. His hair was still wet at the tips, but that didn't matter.

He left the gym, and made his way to his car, popping the key into the ignition, and backing out of his parking spot. He drove back to the _Bed and Breakfast, _parked the car, and clocked himself in for the night.

Waitering wasn't the best job out there, but Percy was grateful to have it. It meant he could indulge himself, and the pay was pretty good. On top of that, with the Swim Lessons, he was doing alright. Even if he wished he could become, say, a marine biologist, he hadn't gone to a good enough school for that. You had to be smart or rich to get out of this place.

Annabeth, was of course the former. He smiled, thinking about how she would quiz him on trigonometry, how she'd kiss him everytime he said something stupid. The little quirk in her eye that would raise every time she was questioning what he was doing.

He remembered one night, when he'd snuck out of the house at midnight to see her. He'd thrown rocks at her window, nearly scaring her to death, and climbed up the side of the house and onto the roof with her. They'd talked, and kissed and _loved _all night.

And shit, everyone knew that you had to have a lousy life if you peaked in high school, but goddamn he definitely had.

It didn't matter what he had now, because in high school, he had _Annabeth. _The best of the best. The greatest of them all. His princess, his _wise girl,_ as he'd called it back then. The Wise Girl to his Seaweed Brain, he'd tease her.

And the refreshing banter they had, their friends always had said they had amazing chemistry. She'd make a comment about how he drooled when he slept, and they'd be off. An immediate conversation would be strung together. Percy didn't think that there was one moment in their entire relationship- friends to lovers- that there had been an awkward silence.

They bounced off each other, it was plane math. She'd say something, then he would and that would happen over and over again. They never got tired of each other. It was an endless cycle that wouldn't stop until one of them had to leave.

Which is why their friends constantly got tired of them. Percy and Annabeth shared the same friend group, meaning that their friends had seen the full of their relationship. All of the ups- and the little downs they'd have.

Those downs, being mostly jealousy. That jealousy was always resolved, because over everything, the most important thing was _communication. _

And Percy wished that he'd been a little bit better about that when he broke things off. Maybe if he had explained everything to her before- his insecurities, all the research he'd done about long distance relationships, if he'd actually talk to her, then maybe this would have all been resolved.

He was worried that interrupting her time with Thalia had actually made everything worse- that he should just pull back, and wait. That was a better idea than any of his others. He should have just thought about that first, that it would be better to stay away, and let her process everything.

He shook his head, vanquishing the thoughts about Annabeth. He should focus on doing… waiter stuff (whatever _that _was). He continued serving people, and soon, clocked off. As he got ready to leave and head to the bar, he heard the slight chitter-chatter of those coming in and out.

He walked to the bar, and headed in, buying himself a drink. Rachel would probably be here any minute.

"Hey dude." He stiffened as he heard her voice from behind him, only seconds later. "What's up? You gonna buy me a drink?"

Rachel slid in the bar-stool next to him, and Percy turned to her. She was wearing a small sun-dress that showed off her curves, and a green beanie. "Hey Red." He said, smiling weakly at her. "Sure, what do you want?"

She chuckled. "I'm just kidding Perce." She said. "You're too nice, I'm not going to take advantage of you like that." She looked up at him through her eyelashes. "Unless you want me too."

Percy laughed and shook his head, hoping she was joking. "I'm good Rachel."

"Worth a try," She said, giggling a bit. Percy was almost surprised, she'd always had a low chuckle, not a laugh like that. "So, anything new?"

"From the last twenty-four hours?" Come to think of it, a lot had happened. "My ex is back here." He looked at Rachel, trying to gauge her reaction. Her face didn't say anything. "And it's been weird. She's renting out the apartment above the restaurant, it's a coincidence, and I saw her, and she was weirdly sympathetic towards me when I came to hang out with Jason and she was there. I can't explain it. It's just weird."

He wasn't sure why he was telling her this. But then again, they were friends. Rachel and Percy _had _dated. Why wouldn't he talk to her about it.

Rachel continued to stare. "I'm not sure what you want me to say." She finally told him. "I mean, do you want me to be honest?"

Percy nodded.

"I don't know who this girl is, or what she does, or anything about her for a matter of fact." She slowly spoke. "But I do know I like you. Romantically."

Now Percy was the one who was speechless.

Rachel snapped her fingers. "I wanted to let you know that. And how long has it been since you guys were together? A while, it has to be. I haven't heard of any other girls but her. But if you aren't over her, she must be pretty damn cool. But I still like you, and I'm interested, so if you want me to help you get over her, I'm open to that."

_Well, _Percy thought, _that was forward. _"What do you mean?" He asked hesitantly.

"Date me." Rachel said, like it was the easiest thing in the world. "It's pretty damn simple. I know why you broke it off last time, but come on, now I understand why. Maybe we can work on that."

"I don't know what to say."

Rachel shrugged. "Say yes."

"Yes?" It sounded more like a question than an answer.

Rachel took his hand. "Easy as that." She told him, and smiled. "And if you don't want to do this at any time, just let me know. I'll back off."

_Not sure I want to do this now, _Percy thought to himself, but stayed silent. This was certainly going to be an experience.

… **sorry, I couldn't help myself (BUT… Percabeth will come at some point…)**

**I hope everyone is feeling safe and healthy. If you are ever feeling down, I am here to talk. This entire thing (COVID-19) is a really crazy experience, but I hope everyone's doing well. Let me know what you think of the chapter, and I hope you are all safe and healthy.**

**TheLil'Lion**

**P.S: Thanks to booklover for reading and leaving comments on Knelt by Her Notebook! I really appreciate all the support.**

**P.P.S: Some one-shots may be coming out soon… **


	14. Chapter 14

**I hope you guys like this chapter! Also, yesterday, I published a one-shot! I'd appreciate if you guys could check it out and give it some support (:**

**Disclaimer: In simplest terms, I am not Rick Riordan (if you can't tell, I'm running out of ideas)**

Annabeth woke up in a start- it was a new day, and the first day working on site at her job. She would be measuring, designing, and figuring out the best way to add an extension to this gym, and although it was a simple task, she was perfectionist. That meant she would get it done, amazingly.

Piper was also going into work today, and they could ride in a cab together, as the therapy office and gym were walking distance away from each other. They called in a cab, knowing it would be Chiron, the driver from before.

It was about ten o'clock when they went downstairs, and ate the breakfast provided by the restaurant. Annabeth yawned, trying to ignore that Percy was their server- that Percy was the only server their.

And surprisingly, he did the same. He didn't say anything apart from asking for their order. It was weird, because Annabeth actually kinda _wanted _him to acknowledge her- she didn't know why, it was weird.

Once she and Piper got into the cab and greeted Chiron, she spent her time looking through her email for logistics on the gym. Annabeth would be spending most of her time working there, so she needed to understand the place and how it worked, along with the dimensions of it.

She looked at nearby coffee shops and restaurants she could grab a bite at, and settled on a comfy looking cafe about a block away from the gym.

They thanked Chiron, and got out of the cab, waving him off. Once on the street, they went separate ways, Piper to the therapy center, which was only a block away, and Annabeth, to the gym, which was just across the street.

She crossed the street and walked into the gym, cautious of her surroundings. She remembered going here a couple of times before with friends, using the swimming pool. She remembered all the times she'd been there with Percy, when it was late and nobody was there. They'd kissed in the pool, holding onto each other, in a way that made Annabeth convinced they'd never stop.

Oh, the irony. That she could be working at this _exact same _gym, years in the future, now without Percy.

She wasn't sure why she was thinking like this- it was weird, she had tried to block Percy out of her mind when she left, but now that she was back, all of these random memories were flooding in and out of her mind.

Shaking her head, she tried to block more thoughts from coming into her head. She approached the front desk of the gym, and smiled brightly at the bored person at the desk. "Hey," She said.

"Hi?" The person questioned, as if it wasn't their job to check people in. "What can I do for you?"

Annabeth smiled, and put her stack of papers on the desk, and the person flinched. As a matter of fact, she felt bad referring to this person as just "the person," she gazed at their name tag. "Clarisse," it read.

"I'm the architect that's working on the extension to the gym." She said. "I was wondering what I have to do."

"Oh." The girl said, not amused. "We have a couple people that'll help you out. Then there's a little office by Mr. D's you'll work with on planning. Measurements are today."

Annabeth smiled. "Okay, thanks." She said. "Where are they?"

Clarisse still looked bored. "Go to the right, it's the second door on your left."

Annabeth smiled, and picked up her papers from the desk. "I appreciate it," She said, and Clarisse simply grumbled in response. "I'm Annabeth, by the way."

"Clarisse," Clarisse said, not looking like she wanted to participate in anymore conversation.

Annabeth followed Clarisse's instructions, and opened the second door on her left. She opened it, to see a man, Mr. D, she assumed, staring intently at the computer on his desk. "Hello?" Annabeth said, trying to get his attention. "I'm the architect, Annabeth." She continued, as she looked up. "I was just wondering where the team was."

"Hello Annabell." He let out a large crunch, and Annabeth's eyes flickered to the bag of potatoes chips next to him. "They'll be here any minute." He checked his watch.

"Um-" Annabeth said, hesitating. "My name is Annabeth." She didn't know why, but she was immediately repulsed by him- probably somewhere in the middle of repulsed and annoyed.

"I said that," Mr. D, told her, "Didn't I?"

Annabeth decided not to argue, and shifted her papers from under her arm, to both of her hands. "So, I already have some notes, but I was wondering if there was anything specific you wanted."

Mr. D pulled out a gruby piece of paper from underneath her chip bag. "Here's what I was thinking." He handed her the sheet, and Annabeth held it by the tips of her fingers, trying to avoid any immediate direct contact. He held his hands out, and flushed them around the area, like he was experiencing a whole new world.

"First," Mr. D said, "Work out room, better than the others, more machines, open water fountain, bathroom, you know what I mean."

Annabeth looked down at the sheet of paper she had given him. A poorly drawn square labeled, "cool workout room" stood in the place of his vision. Annabeth sighed, and took out another piece of paper, putting it in front of the other, drawing a more precise version of Mr. D's vision.

Mr. D continued, "Next, we want a hot tub, you know, nice, adults can go there, no kids allowed, possibly a bar."

Annabeth immediately ve-toed the bar idea. This was a gym, for christ's sake. "We can't have a bar. It's a gym."

Mr. D waved his hand in the air. "Then detach the bar from the gym. I want a hot tub, bar, no kids." He said, and Annabeth shook her head. She again, didn't want to argue, and Mr. D wouldn't be hurt if he didn't know she didn't include it. Plus, just looking at him, she presumed she'd probably forget about that by the end of it.

Either way, five minutes later, Annabeth had a refined draft of Mr. D's dream, and the rest of the team arrived. Nyssa, a mechanic, Reyna, another architect, but a free-lance one, and finally, Beckendorf, another mechanic/architect.

They all seemed nice enough, and Annabeth was excited to get to work, despite everything that had happened in the past day.

**This was a pretty low-key chapter, more of a filler, but either way, I'd love to hear what you think! I was having a hard time with writer's block (like always) but at least I got a chapter written. **

**Stay safe and healthy! I hope all of you are doing well! Thanks so much for reading!**

**TheLilLion**

**Replies:**

**booklover, I'm sorry, but I'd prefer not to disclose my location/timezone, but if it helps, I update relatively around the same time every Monday and Wednesday, and two hours after that time Saturday.**

**HoO Storys, you'll have to read to find out!**

**PercabethForever1013, Sure, I'll check it out and give some feedback**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15! I hope you all enjoy it (and stay safe everyone).**

**Disclaimer: I'd be a much more talented author if I was Rick Riordan.**

Percy wasn't sure what he and Rachel were. If they were together, or if the entire thing was open. He could never be sure with Rachel. And what _sucked _about all of this, was that now, he would have no chance with Annabeth.

He wasn't sure why he'd said yes. It was dumb, on his part, and he was regretting. it He felt bad about saying yes to someone he didn't really like. And now they were having conversations over text all the time. It felt weird, all of this made no damn sense.

He wished he'd had the guts to tell her he wasn't interested, and that he didn't think dating her was a good idea. It was kind of pathetic, as Percy thought about it. Most people would be able to give a polite rejection, but he couldn't.

He groaned, and clocked out, heading to the gym.

Upon his arrival, he nodded at Clarisse, and walked through the doors, going to the pool to start teaching lessons to the kids.

A group of people were clustered on the opposite side of the food, and several people were in the free lanes, swimming or playing with each other. Percy recognized the kids in his group, and walked over, smiling.

"Are you guys ready to get wet?" Percy winced at the sexual connotation, but they were kids, they didn't understand.

The kids replied all at different times. "Yes Mr. Jackson!" Percy smiled. They were cute.

"Alright, let's jump in already, right?" He clapped his hands together enthusiastically, and jumped into the pool, water splashing all around him as the kids followed suit. "So," Percy started, "Today, we're going to do some relay-races. Freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, even some random funny stuff." 

The kids held onto the side of the pool, and smiled, screaming a chorus of "yay's" and "awesome's!"

Percy smiled at them. "All right, let's get started, why don't we?" He said. "First, we're going to do some warm-up, breaststroke to the middle, tread water for ten seconds, and then swim the rest of the way."

The kids nodded, and got into lines, as they started their activities. Percy grinned down at them, as much as he'd rather be swimming at the olympics or competitively, he loved teaching the little kids.

He got out of the pool, and brushed his hair out of his face, as drops of water dripped down his face. He walked the length of the pool, making sure each kid's form was good. He was close enough to jump in if someone was drowning, but far enough to see each kid's stroke from a distance.

He continued walking the length of the pool, and turned the corner to meet up with the group, making sure he didn't slip and fall. As he was about to jump in, he slammed into someone, a person. 

That person being, as he quickly identified her, Annabeth. "Sorry, I'm clumsy," She said, "I wasn't looking where I was-" She stopped speaking as soon as she saw who he was. "You have _got _to be kidding me." She pushed her hair out of her face, and rearranged the paper's she was holding.

Percy grimaced. "What are you doing here?"

Annabeth ignored him, adjusted her papers again, and walked past him quickly, shaking her head, as her shoes clacked against the floor. Percy turned back to the kids, and then peeked over his shoulder a final time, seeing she was gone.

"Sorry kids," Percy laughed nervously, "Let's get back to the warm ups."

The kids stared up at him, waiting for instruction. "Practice pushing off the wall," Percy said, "and turning around by flipping in the water." Although these kids were young, Percy had taught them harder stuff- he believed starting off early and intense was good.

The group complied, and one at a time, practiced pushing off the wall and beginning their strokes. Percy smiled, they were getting good. "Nice warm up guys," He said, "Now let's move to the relay races."

He continued to teach them, and began the relay races, but despite the happiness he got out of teaching kids to swim, the thought of Annabeth was still stuck in his mind.

He wasn't surprised she had ignored him, but weirdly hurt by it, in a way he wished he wasn't. It was unfair to Rachel, he told himself, and he _had said _that he would try. To do the whole relationship thing, to be in one without Annabeth.

Percy had always been a genuine person, and although he hadn't made any promises to Rachel, it would be a dick move if he did something like that to her. She was his friend- now girlfriend, he guessed. Loyalty was key, and he wasn't being loyal by even thinking about Annabeth.

He turned back to the kids, sighing. He would have to get a heavy drink tonight if he wanted to sort all this out. He felt queasy, so he rubbed his head, and then put on a mask of happiness, one he had used every day for the past couple of years.

It was time to be Percy Jackson, swim coach, friend, girl's man. Not Percy Jackson, a sad, lonely kid who's never going to be over his ex. He looked back to where Annabeth had been standing, half ashamed, half resigned.

He sighed, and smiled, looking back at the kids, who hadn't paid attention to his little space out. "Alright guys, let's get back to the relay races," _You're here to have fun, _Percy thought to himself, _not to see me mope around. _

He knew it would be a long day, and he knew he would need a drink after it. Everything, in his mind just seemed to blurry, and he needed to blur for real- maybe just stop living for a couple of minutes. Nothing big. He'd come back and everything would be normal.

He just needed a _break. _

**Eh… I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. What do you guys think? I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks so much for reading. Be sure to leave a review, I'd love to hear your thoughts.**

**Anyway, stay safe and healthy everyone! I hope you all are doing well.**

**TheLil'Lion**

**Replies:**

**Booklover: Don't worry about it! I'm not offended, and thanks so much for all of your complements!  
**

**RandomFanAuthor: Very true, it's essential for the perfect gym**

**Leoisthebadboysupreme: Yeah! I love Beckendorf, and I hadn't added him in any of my other stories, so I decided to add him here!**

** , Thanks so much! Sorry I didn't get to your review of the last chapter! But I really appreciate all the complements!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If I were Rick Riordan, I would be focusing on the next Trials of Apollo book instead of this (not that I don't like writing fanfiction, I love it!)**

Annabeth needed a drink. She needed to go to a bar, and just drink. She had been trying to ignore the fact that she lived _and _worked where Percy Jackson was, which really sucked.

She pulled out her phone, and started to text Piper. Maybe she'd be down to come with her. But on second thought, Piper was probably adjusting to her job too, she probably shouldn't bother her. Plus, it would probably be nice to do something on her own, she was an introvert, and it would be nice to recharge.

Although she was satisfied with the team, and the work with measuring and planning they'd done today, she was still… she couldn't find a word for it. Displeased maybe? No, that wasn't quite it. Something irked her, made her feel uncomfortable.

She sighed, and opened the door to Mr. D's room, with two papers to give him. He was lazily eating a slice of pizza, oil dripping off the sides. She forced herself not to wince at it. "Mr. D," She started. "Here are the measurements we did today, along with the design. We still have a lot to do, but we've made a good start."

Mr. D set his pizza on a paper plate, rubbing his hands together. "Nice job Annie John."

Annabeth winced. "That's not my name."

"What _is _your name?"

"Annabeth." She responded, eyes ready to start rolling.

Mr. D looked up at her, and took a sip of his diet coke. "That's what I said." He told her. "But nevermind that, good job, nice work. I look forward to seeing your work tomorrow. I can introduce you to some of the staff tomorrow too if you'd like." He grinned to himself.

"No," Annabeth said, waving her hands quickly. She did _not _want to be put in a situation with Percy if she could help it. "No, that's fine, I'll meet them on my own, that'll be better."

"Are you sure?" Mr. D questioned, his eyebrow quirking up.

Annabeth looked at him, serious, pushing her papers to her chest. "I'm positive."

Mr. D thanked her one last time, and Annabeth smiled at him. Despite his gross eating habits and irritable personality, he seemed like an okay guy. Although he didn't seem terribly passionate about his job, he seemed fine.

She checked her watch, seeing the time was seven. She could probably go home, drop off her stuff, and then head to the bar. Piper had texted her that she'd be home later for an orientation type thing, getting to know the rest of the team at the Therapy office, so Annabeth didn't have to worry about her coming along.

She called for a Taxi, and obviously it was Chiron who came. "Hey Chiron," She said, smiling at him, and getting into the passenger seat of the car. "How was your day?"

"It was fine." Chiron replied. "I drove people around, like normal." He turned to her, a grin playing on his lips.

Annabeth smiled. "Of course, normal." She said.

"Where to now?" Chiron asked her, and Annabeth quickly gave him the address to her house (again). "Now," Chiron said as he drove through the streets. "How was yours?"

"Not horrible," She said, and Chiron laughed. "I mean, things have been really complicated." She hesitated, not sure if she was oversharing by saying this. "My ex, he works where I live, and where I work. So, that's hard."

Chiron nodded, "Yeah that sounds hard."

They rode the rest of the way in silence, apart from Annabeth thanking Chiron for the ride. She quickly went up to the apartment, and decided to freshen up, put on a face-mask. She hadn't done self-care in a while, because she had about an hour to recharge before she went to get a drink.

She put on a face-mask with expertise (though not really, the mask got all over her hairline and eyebrows), and peeled it off when needed. It felt good, taking care of herself, and she was glad that all of her toiletries had been unpacked the day before. The good thing about this apartment, was that it came with furniture, which was an added expense to the rent. It also made it easier to unpack.

Annabeth looked in the mirror and smiled, trying to look confident. An hour later, she grabbed her shoes, and was off.

The bar was about five minutes away walking, it was close, and the quiet was nice. Annabeth liked the walk over, though it was dark and felt a little bit creepy. Fortunately, this town was safe, and recently no attacks or late-night harassment situations had happened.

She arrived at the bar, and hung her jacket on the coat rack in the front. She rubbed her face, and began scanning the room for a seat. She landed on an area near the front, but not so far away it looked suspicious.

She went to the front, to order a drink, and then her eyes landed on something she was weirdly depressed to see.

A girl- a red headed one at that leaning in and kissing a boy with tan skin and black haired- a boy who she knew was Percy.

What the hell?

_I shouldn't be jealous, _she told herself, trying to fight back all the vicious thoughts going through her head, _I'm not jealous, Percy can kiss whoever the hell he wants to kiss, he's moved on._

And now he was leaning back, with a tight smiled on his lips, and turning around.

Let's just say, Annabeth had never run out of a public place that fast. She was like The Flash, zooming out as quickly as she could, so he wouldn't notice her. And if he had, then her whole Olympic speed dash would be pointless.

_God, _she really needed a drink, but she couldn't have one, because inside the bar was Percy Jackson kissing another girl.

And she couldn't help but feel- even just a bit, even if he'd broken her heart, even though she had _almost _got over him, that tiny bit of jealousy within.

Shit, she was screwed.

**Poor Annabeth, poor Percy, poor everyone! Especially, poor me who has to write this (who am I kidding, I love it).**

**Stay safe and healthy everyone! I hope you all are doing well!**

**TheLil'Lion**

**Miraculous penguin, they are mortals, this is a mortal AU. Also, thank you so much! I really appreciate the compliments. **


	17. Chapter 17

**I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Rick is crueler than I am, believe it or not.  
**

Percy didn't know how he felt about kissing Rachel. It was a weird experience, It felt good, of course, all kisses did. But it didn't give him the same tingly feeling he felt whenever Annabeth-

No, he couldn't think about her. It was unfair to Rachel. Heck, he swore he'd seen her behind him after he kissed Rachel, but of course, he hadn't. He thought he was going insane.

"How was that?" Rachel asked him, after a minute of silence after their kiss.

Percy smiled, turning the sides of his mouth up. "Good," He said, and it was. Percy loved kisses, kissing was good. It was safe. People were easier at leaving relationships if all that was shared were kisses. That's probably where Annabeth and Percy went wrong. It would have been easier if they just kissed.

Rachel smiled at him- no beamed, and he felt so shitty at the moment. He felt like he was taking advantage of her.

But maybe it was the other way around. Rachel had coerced him into doing this, knowing he still was completely over his ex-girlfriend. It was perfectly normal that she would expect conflicting emotions and feelings to happen.

It wasn't that he didn't like Rachel, physically nor personality wise. She was a great person, and good-looking too. Freckles that dotted across her face, bright, wavy, red hair, startling green eyes, not like his own. His eyes were like the sea. Her eyes were electric. She had a strong build, and most of all, she was nice. Funny, smart, driven.

She and Annabeth were actually really similar, it was weird.

But for some reason, he didn't get the same feeling around her as he did with Annabeth. Even when Annabeth and him were fighting, even when they had arguments, even these past couple of days, he'd always felt this way about her. It never stopped.

No matter what situation he was put in, no matter what she did to him, he'd still love her-

He couldn't say that, he couldn't think. Shit, this was really not going well. Rachel was looking at him expectantly, so he leaned in, and kissed her. And what made everything worse, what made him the dumbest prick in the universe, was that he thought about Annabeth.

He remembered telling her once, "Do whatever you want with my heart. Tear it down, break it, rip it into shreds, I don't care, I'll always love you."

He had never imagined it would turn into something like this. Thinking about another girl when he was kissing a perfectly amazing person.

Why couldn't he just love Rachel? What the _hell _was wrong with him for not loving her?

He felt her gasp, and pull away, grinning. "That was nice," She said, "I didn't know you liked to kiss like that."

"I-" Percy hesitated, wondering if what he was going to say would hurt or help him. "I usually don't"

Rachel positively beamed. He felt even more shitty about himself. She was a great person. Why couldn't he just love her? "Am I an exception?"

Percy looked away, feeling his eyes water. At any moment now, tears would fall down his face, and he couldn't let Rachel see that. He couldn't do that to her.

"Yeah." Percy said weakly, "I-" He stuttered, "I'm so sorry Rachel, I gotta go. I'll text you." He got out of his seat, abruptly, aware of what a douche he was being. "We can set up a date tomorrow, or something, but I have to go. I'm really sorry."

"What happened?" Rachel said. "Why do you have to go?"

"I forgot about something," He told her. "Obligation, someone's…" He trailed off, trying to think of a way to finish that sentence, "cat?" It sounded more like a question than an explanation.

Rachel looked quizzical, and then her expression morphed into worry. "Okay," she said, "I-" Was there something more she wanted to say? "Text me Percy, okay?"

Percy nodded, and then rushed out of the bar, and ran back to the restaurant to grab his car. He booked it there, and opened his car. Looking to the side, he noticed a figure- one that vaguely looked like Annabeth.

Was there something wrong with him if he could tell what his ex looked like from a silhouette? Probably, Percy decided, but remembered what he had told himself earlier. He was going to leave her alone. That would be his best bet to closure.

Honestly though, what the hell was closure? Did it work, because Percy was damn sure it hadn't on him. He'd tried to get closure for the last _six years _and none of it had worked. It was stupid, everything about this was stupid, and made him mad.

He got into the car, and slammed onto the steering wheel. "_Goddamnit!" _He shouted out loud, not caring who would hear. "_God-fucking-daminit_!" He continued to shout. "Why can't I not get over this girl?"

"What the hell is wrong with me?" He said again, dropping his head to the steering wheel. He didn't say anything for a while, but a slight tear fell down his face, just a small one.

And then a voice. "Nothing's wrong with you." It's eerily recognizable, silky, smooth, soft. He can't put a name to the voice yet, but he knows he's heard it before. Someone is outside of his car, speaking to him.

He should be creeped out by this, he should just drive away quickly, but he's not. Instead, he responds. "How do you know?"

The person sticks their tongue. "I don't know. You just seem like you're having a bad day. Everyone has bad days."

"It's not just a bad day. I think something's wrong with me." Percy tells the person, it sounds like a girl, but he doesn't want to assume. "I haven't been able to get over this girl for six years. It sucks. And now I'm trying to get into a new relationship, and everything sucks."

The person stops. "Yeah, I understand." They sound like they really do, like they genuinely understand, that they've been through what he has.

"Right." He tells them, and then starts his car. The person backs away, and Percy pulls out of his spot, wondering what the hell is going on with him.

**So, Any ideas on who that mysterious 'person' was? Also, I'm so sorry for this chapter, I can't lie to you and say that I didn't want it to be so sad, because I did, and for some weird reason I like writing angst, but it turned out this way, so… yeah. Also, please don't kill me. Remember: if you want another chapter, you need me to be alive to write it! Like I said, happy stuff will come in a while...**

**Also, online schooling has taken away some writing time for me, but don't worry! I'll still be updating consistently- that's my promise to you. I'm not going to give up on this story. Is anyone else doing online schooling right now?**

**Anyway, I hope you guys are safe and healthy! **

**TheLil'Lion**

**Booklover, this'll be a bit longer than Knelt by Her Notebook, I'm not sure how long, but longer than thirty chapters. And don't worry! I love long reviews, and I appreciate all the complements!**

**PercabethForever1013, Aw! Thanks so much! I really appreciate it!**

**Rajkusri000, I am morally obligated to do so (:**


	18. Chapter 18

**I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Also, I published a one-shot yesterday, and I'd appreciate if you could check it out!**

**Disclaimer: I'm so much more predictable than Rick Riordan. **

Annabeth woke up not having a clue how she'd got into her bed. She knew she had drank a lot last night- the bottle sitting across from her was there to prove it, but not this much.

She went over to Piper's room, who was sleeping peacefully in her bed, cuddling Mr. Cuddles, a stuffed teddy bear in her arms. Sometimes, Piper was just so _damn _wholesome.

Whatever. She needed to get her awake. Wholesome her ass, she needed to figure out how she got up here. She shook her awake.

Annabeth emotionlessly shook her and Piper woke up in a start. "What the hell Annie?" Piper yawned. "Dude, I had a late night, let me sleep."

"I need you to tell me how I got in here."

Piper blinked. "Oh, that? I came back to see you talking to some random stranger in a car, obviously drunk, the hangover should kick in right about-" Piper snapped her fingers, and Annabeth realized how sluggish she felt. "Now. Anyway, the person drove off, and you sort of just… paced back and forth for a while until I ran over and got you- at first I didn't even think it was you. Then I helped get you up to bed, and watched Netflix until midnight."

Annabeth groaned. "Seems like the late night thing was your fault." She sighed, and rubbed her forehead. "I feel like shit."

"You look like shit too." Piper told her, and Annabeth feigned offense.

"I don't wanna go to work today." Each word slurred together, until Annabeth gave up on the sentence overall, and mumbled a bunch of incoherent words. "I'm never doing anything like that again."

Piper fake gasped. "You can't mean that." She put her hand over her head. "Woe is me."

Annabeth slapped her. "I wanna just," She spread her hands out in front of her, "cease to exist." she added, continuing to complain.

"We should have a dry July." Piper said, smiling at her in a jokingly manner.

Annabeth groaned some more. "It's not even July."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Don't mind the details." She looked sympathetic then. "But hey, it's only seven, it'll wear off by ten, and then we'll head over to work. I can get you some medication too if you need it."

Now that was a good friend. Annabeth hugged Piper. "Thank you, you're my savior."

"Of course." Piper rolled her eyes. "And by the way, Jason? He's available. I know I told you I'd never date my boss, but he's not your boss…"

Annabeth shook her head adamantly. "Hell no, I'm not dating your crush. Plus, I think if you like him, you should date him."

Piper grimaced. "It's not that simple. It would feel weird, possessive even. I just think the whole 'I'm your boyfriend and I'm in charge of if you get fired' is weird. I wouldn't like it."

Annabeth's face softened. "Look, I understand that. I totally do. I'm not going to tell you to date someone you'd be uncomfortable dating. But Jason's a good guy, and if he does anything wrong, Thalia could beat him up for you."

Piper's face instantly brightened. "She likes me?" She asked, eager.

"She told me you thought you were cool, apart from the whole wanting to hook up with her brother thing."

Piper's shoulders relaxed. "Man, I was so worried she wouldn't like me. I really wanted to make a good impression on your friend." She grinned. "And I'm so glad I did."

Annabeth smiled, despite her epic hangover. "People instantly like you Piper- that's nothing new. You shouldn't be surprised."

"What do you mean?" Piper said, her eyebrows furrowing. "I don't understand."

Annabeth waved her hands in the air- which just made her more dizzy, so she set them down. "You have this aura- I don't really know what to call it. I mean, you're my best friend, you make me feel relaxed, and I think that other people experience that too." Annabeth looked at her. "And," Annabeth added, "You're funny, and sweet, and caring."

"Go on" Piper grinned, and Annabeth slapped her.

"Oh, stop digging for compliments, Pipes," Annabeth said, and stretched her arms out. "I'm going to take a shower, maybe that'll stop the hangover a bit."

Piper nodded, and Annabeth walked to her room, and grabbed a towel from one of her bags. Slinging it over her shoulder, she headed to the bathroom, and got ready. Soon enough she was in the shower, the water rushing down her body.

Annabeth had mixed feelings about showering. Some days she loved it, it felt like cleaning the rest of the dirt away, it was calming in a way. The water clinking against the ground, little droplets dripping from her hair. It felt nice. It was calming.

But sometimes, it wasn't. The pitter-patter of water became too much for Annabeth to take sometimes- and even worse, sometimes, even when she was in California, she would be reminded of Percy. Percy talked about the shower like it was his pet. He'd talk about memories he'd have in the shower, thinking he had water powers.

Really, water reminded her of Percy. Not just because it was raining when they broke up- that was just salt to the wound but Percy was a swimmer. And Percy loved the water- he adored water. They had had so many memories in the water together- one time, they'd driven down to the beach in his mom's old car, and spent the day and night there.

It was a really good memory, though it had turned sour from the years she and Percy had spent apart.

Why was she thinking about Percy anyway? He had a girlfriend, She reminded herself, and Annabeth was over him. Totally over him.

But even so, her mind begged for her to answer the question- then why did you get that feeling in your chest when you saw him kissing that girl?

Annabeth isn't jealous. She wasn't a jealous girl, she swore. But damn, seeing Percy with that red-haired girl really did things to her. The way the girl's arms wrapped around his neck, just as Annabeth had so many times.

Shit. She couldn't still be in love, could she?

**Percabeth will come… eventually. On another note, I think I've said this before, but I'm going to reaffirm it: I update Monday's, Wednesday's, and Saturday's. Apart from that, I'll post a one-shot on any day of the week, it's unpredictable.  
**

**Tell me what you think in a review! I'd love to hear your thoughts!**

**Rajkusri000, yeah, I think so too. That's one of the reasons I like writing angst so much.**

**Booklover, for your question; if you check out the "favorites" section on my profile, you'll see a lot of good stories. Additionally, SomethingMoreCreative is a really good author I'd recommend.**

**Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! There were so many that came in, and each of them made me smile. (:  
**

**TheLil'Lion**


	19. Chapter 19

**I hope you guys are safe and healthy!**

**Disclaimer: You know, I would say I feel bad about moving RICK's character's around like this, but it's fanfiction, and he'll hopefully never see this, so yeah, enjoy!**

Percy had a date. With Rachel. They were meeting at this nice restaurant, just three miles away from the bed and breakfast. Rachel said she'd take a cab there- he didn't have to pick her up. He'd drive in his car, and they'd meet up at the restaurant.

It was Rachel who suggested they ride separately. Percy thought that was weird, in all of his past date's they'd arrived together, but it seemed Rachel had some things she needed to do, teaching things.

He wasn't sure how comfortable he was with this whole ordeal. As much as he had tried to move on from Annabeth, when he was getting ready, he kept thinking, _would she like it if I wore this? Do you think she would go to that restaurant? _

Stuff like that- things that weren't helping him.

He looked at himself in the mirror- he had casual wear on- a shirt, a jacket and jeans. The restaurant wasn't super fancy, but the food was great. He'd arranged the entire thing, because it was a nice restaurant.

But he was having second thoughts, when he realized that the restaurant he was going to, was one of the first places he took Annabeth too. And he'd read online that it was never good to go to places on a date, where you took your ex.

So with that, he had three options. One, bail on the date, feel like an idiot, and try to schedule a new one later. Two, go to a different restaurant, tell Rachel the other one is closed. And three, just go on the damn date, like a normal person.

Number three was the most plausible one. But even having to makea choice, made Percy feel like a total asshole.

This entire thing was unhealthy, Percy knew that for a fact. He didn't know why he was doing it, just that he didn't feel like he could stop without feeling like an asshole.

He checked his watch, and the time showed it was seven, only thirty minutes till he had to meet Rachel. The restaurant was about ten minutes away, so he had twenty minutes to watch some television, just to pass the time.

Percy picked a random Netflix show, one he had been watching for a while, and clicked on the next episode of it. He hadn't watched television in a while, being preoccupied with work and other things, and he just hadn't had the time.

He wasn't super entertained by the show, but it passed the time which was good, and soon enough, he left, getting into his car, and driving to the restaurant.

He arrived, just as a cab pulled up, presumably Chiron's, the town's resident driver's, and a girl popped out, that girl being Rachel. Percy got out of her car, just to meet her, but then another girl came out, with blonde, curly hair.

Percy could barely make out what she was saying, but it seemed as if it was something along the lines of, "Wait, let me get your number."

Rachel nodded, and took out her phone, smiling at the girl, who was decidedly Annabeth (though Percy was trying to ignore that), and typed something in her phone, Annabeth following suit. Rachel waved her hand goodbye, and Annabeth smiled at her, getting back into the cab.

The cab pulled away, and Rachel saw Percy, looking over at her. He walked over to her, and she smiled. "Hey handsome," She said, "You look good today."

Percy smiled, "Thanks, you look nice too." See? That was easy to say. And it was true too. "Who was that girl you were talking to?" Percy added, trying to be nonchalant and subtle (which he totally wasn't).

"Oh," Rachel said, tilting her head. "We were both in the same cab, she was trying to go home. We talked a bit, her name is Annabeth," Percy grimaced. "She's cool. I got her number."

Percy bit his lip. Shit. Why did this always have to happen? Everytime he tried to get over her, she came back to him in some way, shape, or form. A memory, a mention, her actual presecens. It was getting annoying, and it was almost like the universe kept putting her there just to bother him. To show him what he was missing

And now, even more than ever, he was feeling like a complete and utter douche. This entire situation was awful, and Percy couldn't quite put his finger on the catalyst of it. "That's…" He hesitated. "Nice."

Rachel nodded happily, "Yeah, it really is," She looked at him, "I haven't made a lot of girl friends, so it'll be nice to have someone to talk to that I can relate to." She took Percy's hand, and he flinched, just a bit. What was _wrong _with him? "Let's go in." She looked around at the restaurant. "I haven't been here before."

Holding Rachel's hand wasn't bad, not at all. She was good at holding hands properly. Some people were too sweaty, too bony, whatever. Her hand was warm and smooth, not bony at all. It was a good trait, if you could properly hold someone's hand, especially with dating.

He stopped himself before he could compare the experience to Annabeth. He really did, and he was proud of himself for it. He was even prouder, that he was good the rest of the date. Although there were times he felt uncomfortable, he got through it, and Rachel was nice to talk to. She really was. She knew exactly what to say or do to brighten up the experience.

Rachel was funny in a different way than Annabeth. He couldn't say that it was better, because he always loved Annabeth's sense of humor. But while Annabeth was sarcastic and quotable, Rachel loved just cracking jokes. Having a fun time. Annabeth cracked jokes, and she was funny too, but her sense of humor was a bit more satire, more knowledge based than Annabeth.

That's not saying Rachel wasn't smart. She was an art teacher and creative, she had to be smart. Annabeth was an architect, which meant she was more smart with math and sciences. They were two different people, and although they had similar traits, they showed them in different ways.

But then, _why the hell didn't he like Rachel the way he liked Annabeth? _

Why was Annabeth the one that made him blush, the one who, even when he was annoyed, could always find a way to change his perspective? And why, when Rachel hugged him, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek at the end of the night, did he not get the same jolt he did with Annabeth.

He was in_ so _much shit right now.

**Poor Percy… poor Annabeth… also, poor Rachel. None of these guys are in a great situation now. Hopefully that'll be changed. (soon enough…)**

**I hope everyone is safe and healthy! Remember, I update every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, so look out for the next update! Thanks so much for all of the support! I really appreciate every favorite, follow and review. **

**Tell me what you think of the chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts!  
**

**TheLil'Lion**

**ItsOnly Pubg, yeah definitely. I have a lot in store for both Percy and Annabeth. And also, thank you so much, I really appreciate the compliments (:**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter number twenty! I hope you guys enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: Pretty sure Uncle Rick doesn't write mortal AU's about his characters breaking up (and getting back together), but that's just my thought.**

Annabeth was surprised when she saw the girl, who had been kissing Percy at the bar, sitting in the cab she was in. But then she'd talked to her, and despite feeling just a tiny bit jealous (okay, maybe more than that) about the entire thing, the girl- her name was Rachel, was really nice.

And in the end, she thought she'd made a new friend. She'd even gotten Rachel's number.

The problem was, she couldn't tell Rachel about her relation to Percy. Because as cool as Rachel was, she wasn't sure how cool she'd be if she told her that she was the ex of her boyfriend.

So that was the situation, and it wasn't great. In fact, it was blatantly horrible. When she talked to Rachel in that cab, she felt like she was lying to her every second of it.

But Annabeth knew that Percy had done well when he got with Rachel. She was nice, and although Annabeth had this sick, inner jealousy of her now (she couldn't deny it anymore), even she liked the girl.

And yeah, she had officially admitted she was jealous, to herself. As bad as it sounds, Annabeth had always thought she was Percy's number one girl. His favorite. She knew she shouldn't continue this way of thinking, it was hard. When she lived in California, she'd always thought about it- if Percy ever moved on and started dating someone else. This would lead her to these little social media stalkings, and eventually, she'd give up.

And although she had tried to convince herself not to think that way- the path that sent her down to the shaky idea that she wasn't over Percy. She had started going down that path the minute she saw him again, even if she hadn't noticed it.

Annabeth hated herself for it. So much. She hated that she was jealous of Percy having a nice girl- for him moving on. Because as she soon realized, she hadn't. And even though she wanted to get to know the girl- Rachel, she was envious- oh, so envious of her.

And envy wasn't a good look on anyone.

Later that night, her phone pinged with a text, from Rachel- they had added each other to their contacts. It asked her if she wanted to have coffee together, and Annabeth readily accepted. Maybe this would get her the closure she was dying to find.

Annabeth asked if she could bring Piper, and Rachel said yes, along with a smiley emoji. She said that she was free all week, and they arranged to hang out the next day. Annabeth tried to smile, but it was hard. Really hard.

She winced, a picture of Percy coming into her mind as soon as she closed her eyes. She opened them quickly, trying to block it from her memory, block him from her memory.

And soon enough, she fell asleep, in her bed, and snored the night away, bringing herself to the world of dreams.

"_Percy," She saw herself saying, as she reached out to the man in front of her, "I love you. I always have." It was so cliche, she thought to herself, but no matter to that. She was the onlooker. The one that watched. This wasn't reality, and so she could enjoy the cliche while it lasted. _

_The man- Percy, looked at the dream version of Annabeth, his eyes twinkling ever so slightly, with something that she couldn't quite identify. "And so have I," Percy said, but it didn't sound like Percy- not the real Percy. _

_The real Percy had something else in his voice, something that was distinctly him, something that dream Percy didn't have. Annabeth tried to shake herself out of the dream- to change television channels._

_So she did, but the next dream was much worse, Percy was there, still there, but his once clean and immaculate body was covered with blood, it was gruesome, and it made her want to cry._

_And then, he was falling to the ground, crying out to her, but Annabeth couldn't do anything. She just watched as he fell. As he died._

That's when she woke up, huffing and puffing, in and out. She looked at the little alarm clock next to her, which read six o'clock. Annabeth knew she wouldn't be able to go to sleep, so she tried to occupy herself in other ways. She read on her kindle, then switched to her phone, and watched Youtube until that got boring.

Then she started to write in a notebook. She always kept a notebook by her bed, just in case there was something she wanted to remember. It wasn't a journal, per say, but more of a record of her thoughts. It had journal entry sure, but overall, it had a bunch of random quotes, jokes, sketches and ideas scrawled in blue ink through it.

Her pen- she always used the same pen for it. It was gray and white, with a nice stabilizer on it, so it fit into her hand perfectly. The ink was blue, and never splattered or stained.

She didn't know why she was focusing on such miniscule things, but it did help her mind go elsewhere. It kept her mind off of the imminent trouble. The fact that she still cared about Percy, and that her dream practically told her she still loved him.

But that couldn't be true.

She had done everything she could for the last couple of years to keep him out of her mind. Hell, there were months on end she hadn't thought about him. Okay, maybe those months were weeks, and maybe those weeks were days, but at least her mind hadn't been plagued by the idea with him.

What sucked about it all, was that she hadn't even had a nice, calm conversation with him since she got back. She'd screamed at him, and treated him rudely, ignored him, done so many things that would send red-flags.

And despite that, even just one reaction had turned her entire body alert- no matter how full of malice it was.

The problem with it all, was that he probably hated her for it. It was toxic, she realized, the behavior she had exhibited. Absolutely toxic, and maybe that was something she'd have to change.

She couldn't wait for Percy Jackson though. She had only a couple months to stay here, and he was dating someone else. So getting back with him romantically? That was a pipe dream.

But maybe, becoming his friend again, would be more realistic. And then, she could see what would happen from there. Because as much as she liked- well, loved- Percy, she knew that she shouldn't- couldn't interfere with his relationship.

She had to move on from him, quickly. As fast as she could. Because this wasn't a good situation for anyone to be in.

**Good job Annabeth, finally admitting to yourself you love Percy, you deserve a pat on the back. You know, with this chapter, I was just writing it to write it, so I could get out of this little writer's block I was having, so I'm sorry that it's not my best.**

**But either way, I hope you guys enjoyed it! I'd love for you to tell me what you think in a review- they always brighten my day! Stay safe and healthy!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: There is only one Uncle Rick in the world, and sadly, I am not him. **

Percy woke up feeling uncomfortable. There was a crick in his back, and overall his neck hurt. He also woke up with a couple of other things. One being a text from Rachel, asking them if he could drop her off at a coffee shop in the afternoon.

It was only a couple days into their relationship, but it felt like she was making it up to be more. Maybe because they'd dated before, for a little while, but it was still weird.

Percy wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He didn't not, not like it, but he didn't particularly like it. Even so, he had told himself he would try. Three weeks, he had promised to himself, and then he could decide.

He stretched, and got out of bed, shaking his arms in the air. Thank god for high ceilings, Percy was a six foot tall guy, and if the ceilings were low, his home life would be shit.

The day passed by quickly, until Rachel hopped into his car, smiling at her phone when he picked her up from the school. "Hey." He said, and she looked over, smiling.

She put her hand on top of his, and Percy fought the urge to pull it away (what kind of jerk was he)? "Hey yourself," Rachel said. "The coffee shops just a couple blocks away, I can give you directions." She said.

Percy started up the car, and drove out of the parking lot. He looked back once at the school behind him, the one full of memories. He remembered scaling the hallways when he was late for classes like a ninja, and once, going to the roof of it with Annabeth. They had spent the entire time up there, just talking to each other. It was late at night when they went down- a teacher yelled at them, and told them they were in trouble.

They got detention the next day, but as they had said to each other, as long as they were together, everything would be fine.

Percy shook his head, smiling a bit at the memories, and then turned back to Rachel. "Are you meeting up with a friend or something?" He asked.

"Yeah, I met this girl yesterday, and we really hit it off. I haven't had many friends here," She looked meaningfully at Percy, "Non-male friends," she elaborated, "since I came here, so I thought it would be nice to try at least. I hadn't really thought about it, since I met her, at least."

Percy kept his eyes on the rode, and continued to drive. "That's nice." He said, "Well," He said, pulling up to the curb in front of the cafe, "Here we are. I hope you have fun."

Rachel leaned over, and kissed him on the cheek. "Do I need to pick you up?" He asked. He'd be at the pool for the next hour.

"I'll text you Percy," she said, and waved him off, leaving the car. Percy looked out the window to the coffee shop, and _goddamnit. _Annabeth was there, smiling at her as they exchanged a tight hug. _What the hell? _When did _that _happen?

He supposed the other day, he saw them coming out of the cab together, and Rachel said something about exchanging numbers, but he never would have thought they would become friends that fast. Though, when thinking about it, they were similar. Annabeth's snarky would match Rachel's blatant humor.

Oh, how he missed Annabeth's snarky. She always had a comment to make, one's that would even make him _giggle. _Who giggled? Rachel, she cracked jokes, and they were funny, but they were never snarky. Never sarcastic. Percy loved sarcasm. He used to have stickers with sarcastic sayings all around his car, until he scraped them off a while back. It was when he started swim lessons.

Let's just say, some of the statements weren't exactly appropriate for children.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the ringing of his phone. Picking it up, he glanced down in surprise to see Thalia's name over it. That was weird. He had her number, but ever since… everything happened, they hadn't talked.

He pressed the "accept call" button, and put the phone to his ear. "Did you seriously make Annabeth fall in love all over again?" She asked. It wasn't angry, more demanding. Like she needed an answer.

But the part he focused on was the "Annabeth" and the "Love" part. That made no sense. She despised him. "What are you talking about Thalia?" He asked, glancing out the window again, to see Annabeth and Rachel happily chatting. He began to pull the car out of it's spot. Once he got on the main street, he grunted, adjusting the phone so both of his hands could fit on the wheel.

"Okay," Thalia said, "Maybe that was a weird way to start."

Percy nodded, "Sure was," he told her, smirking slightly to himself.

"Shut up," Thalia told him. "This isn't the time. What I'm saying, is that you need to stay away from Annabeth. I swear to god, ever since she got back here, every place she is, you're there. Like, don't you have a girlfriend or something to look after?"

Percy nodded, though Thalia couldn't see him. "Yeah I have a girlfriend," He said quickly. It was mostly a move of defense- his safety blanket. If he had a girlfriend, then that meant he couldn't still be interested in Annabeth, right? Hopefully, that would be a good excuse. It would stop him from looking like a jerk. Which he already was, but no matter to that.

"See, you should stay away from her." Thalia said fiercely, "Look, I love Annie. She's the greatest there is, okay? So don't ruin even more stuff for her. Because if you do Jackson, I swear to god, I'll rip your balls out."

Percy smiled incredulously. "Is that a threat?" He practically scoffed.

"I'm going to be cliche when I say this, but I don't care." Thalia told him. That was such a Thalia thing to say. "It's a promise."

He didn't know what to say, so he said what was on his mind. "Thalia," He said, "When I say this, don't take it as a joke. Don't take it as anything, okay? And _please _don't tell Annabeth." He cleared his throat. "I've been in love with Annabeth since we first met. My oblivious mind didn't know it at first, but at least that oblivious mind helped us get together, right? And then I never stopped loving her."

Thalia let out a noise- one he couldn't quite identify. It was a mixture between disbelief and anger.

"I'm trying to move on," He told her, "I promise. But it's hard, when everywhere I look I see her. Maybe I'll never move on. Rachel, my girlfriend, is helping me try." He said, "I'm trying. And don't call me a jerk for doing that- I am, but Rachel knows Annabeth, they're becoming friends. I'm not going to try to stop that."

"I bet it's hard to pretend to have feelings for someone else when you're in love with your ex." Thalia said. She almost sounded genuine in that. It was hard to tell with Thalia. "Look Jackson, I don't like you very much. Maybe I did at one point, but then you broke Annabeth's heart. That's not okay in my book. In fact, break her heart again, and I'll break you. Remember my threat from earlier?"

Percy pulled into his spot at the gym. "Yeah, I do. If I remember correctly, it was a promise." He got out of the car, and shifted his hands, so the phone was safe.

"Right, a promise." Thalia said, and then hesisted. "But you seem genuine. So I guess you have my blessing."

Percy bit his lip, confused. "What blessing?"

"If you want to go win her back," Thalia told him, "You can." She said. "And I won't tell Annabeth what you told me. I promise that too."

Percy smiled a bit. "Of course Thalia," He said, "Of course."

She hung up the phone, though it took Percy a couple seconds to realize it. And he thought about what she had said. Annabeth was, indeed, one of the best things that had happened to him. But he'd made a promise to himself. And although Rachel knew exactly what he was going through (and still stayed in a relationship with him, which he found odd), he would feel guilty if he broke that promise.

But then again, she had said he could end it, at any time. That she would be fine. Even so, the way that she looked at him sometimes, it made Percy doubt she would be okay.

He opened the door to the gym, and shoved his phone into his pocket. He could sort this out. He knew he could.

Hopefully.

**What did you think of the chapter? I'd love to hear your thoughts. I'm really happy about how much support this is getting, thank you all so much! **

**Anyway, now that Thalia has "accepted" Percy, what do you think is going to happen in the next few chapters? Leave a review, I'd love to hear what you think!  
**

**TheLil'Lion**


	22. Chapter 22

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, I posted a one-shot the other day, and would appreciate it if you could check it out! It's titled "drop your books and run like hell."**

**Disclaimer: I'm running out of jokes, but to say the least, I'm not Rick Riordan, and I hope you aren't either (that would be embarrassing). **

Rachel was good for Percy, Annabeth decided, as they talked. She was cool, confident, and funny. Annabeth realized this. But the entire time, something inside her- a deep inner envy was trying to take over her. One she knew would not be good if she wanted to be friends with this girl.

So she smiled, and she laughed. Annabeth knew how to be sociable- she had always been fairly popular in school. She knew when to joke, and when to stop. How to laugh, and what not to say. To say the least, despite her slightly sadistic sense of humor, she knew how to have fun. To have a good conversation- she knew how to make the other person feel understood and visible.

And Rachel seemed to like her. She laughed at the jokes Annabeth cracked. She made jokes too, she wasn't afraid to get a little inappropriate, which Annabeth appreciated. She hated when people scattered around topics like that, it made the conversation feel unnatural.

Soon, an hour had passed, and Annabeth didn't even realize it. Her break was over, and she had to head back to the gym, to talk to Mr. D one last time about his plans. They'd gotten most of the measurements done, but now, they had to decide the material to be used, and a feasible plan.

She and Rachel exchanged a nice farewell, and Annabeth started to walk back to the gym, looking back once to see Rachel typing on her phone.

She got the place fairly quickly, Annabeth had long legs after all, and rushed in, flashing her ID at Clarisse, and heading straight to Mr. D's office. She knocked on the door twice, waiting for him to let her in.

Instead, he told her he'd be done in a minute. Annabeth sighed, wondering who could be in there. She checked her watch, hoping that whoever was in there would be out soon. She was impatient, tapping her finger against the door knob, and clicking her phone on and off. She opened her messaging app to see a couple texts from Piper, who was complaining about Jason. She grinned at the phone- the complaints weren't negative, they just illustrated how hard Jason was making it for Piper to act normal. She sent back a shrugging emoji, and shut her phone off as the door opened.

To her surprise, the last person she wanted, and expected came out, his eyes earnest yet resolved. The expression paused for a moment, changing as Percy saw her. Annabeth bit her lip. It was hard to see Percy, especially when he was now in a relationship. She backed away for a second, stumbling back.

"I'm sorry," Percy muttered, his eyes turning down. He looked to the side, and checked his phone. "God," He said, "I'm running late." He clicked it shut and shoved it in his pockets, and looked up to Annabeth once more. They showed something she couldn't discern, and to be honest, didn't want to.

She should say something, right? Okay, maybe she was jealous out of her mind, maybe she wasn't. She shouldn't be- this didn't matter right? It didn't matter to her, because Percy's problems didn't concern her anymore. "Um, congrats?" She finally said, holding the door open to Mr. D's office, and looking in. "Rachel seems nice," She said, turning back to him.

"I don't know why you care," Percy hadn't looked at her, but he hadn't moved either. His voice was low, and gravely, as if a hint of recognition was coming upon his face. "I- thanks," he said, and swallowed audibly, "I appreciate it…" He hesitated, as if he was choking something back. "Annabeth."

Annabeth nodded, and looked away. "Um, sure." She said, and turned away, pulling the door open.

"Before you go in," Percy's voice came from behind her. She jumped, surprised he was still there. "Can you tell me something?" He asked, and Annabeth turned back, raising an eyebrow, and slowly nodding. "Did you really mean that?"

Annabeth blinked, and then sighed, realising what he was asking. "Sure." She said, and turned away once more. She was lying about being happy for them- she wasn't at all. She wished she could be, but she couldn't. It was this endless mental battle going on in her head- one she knew she could never win.

Percy didn't say anything else, he cocked his head to the side a bit, looking at her for a moment, which Annabeth ignored. It would help her if she ignored it. So she walked into Mr. D's office, shutting the door behind her.

Mr. D looked up, and smiled at her. "Hello Amelia Carey," he said, grinning at her. "How's the bar going?" He asked, and Annabeth tried to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"That's not even close-" She muttered, and then cut herself off, turning her frown into a smile. "Uh, okay Mr. D. So here's the deal, the bar? It can't happen. That's just not how municipal areas like this work. If you want a bar, you need to buy a store, get a permit, and set it up yourself. You can't just…" She struggled, searching a word to describe what she was hearing, "You can't make one appear, and just start it up out of nowhere, okay?"

Mr. D grinned, which surprised Annabeth. She had not expected a reaction like that. "I understand."

Annabeth reconstructed her paper's in her hand, and smiled a bit to herself, "Well that's good, because-"

Mr. D clasped his hand together, interrupting her, "You're saying that we _can _have a bar, but we can't have it here."

She slapped herself in the forehead. This whole conversation made no sense whatsoever. "If you want to start up a bar somewhere, by all means, do it. I'm not responsible for that. I'm responsible for this…" She looked around at the office, searching for a kind word to describe it. None came. "Place," she finally decided.

Mr. D frowned. "That doesn't seem very fair."

"Life isn't fair," Annabeth said, readjusting her papers. "Look, there are plenty of people around here that would be willing, for the right price, of course," she said, raising her eyebrows, "to help you start up a nice bar. But not me. I'm an architect, not a business consultant."

He clicked his tongue, "A business consultant…" He murmured to himself, and then waved his hand in the air, "You can leave. Thanks for telling me this useful information."

Annabeth nodded, positively flabbergasted (that's a word she didn't think she'd _ever _use). Since when were business owners so… well, oblivious to the real world. What made Mr. D's interest, even weirder, was that he wasn't even a business owner. He was the director of a _gym. _He didn't own the place at all.

She sighed, and picked up her papers. That was a question for another day.

The question for today, was _how the hell am I going to stop thinking about Percy Jackson?_

And that one had her mind racing for answers, urgently.

**Thanks so much for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! I hope everyone is safe and healthy! **

**Leave a review! Tell me what you think, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Reviews always brighten my day! I really appreciate each favorite, follow and review, thanks so much for all the support!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	23. Chapter 23

**Hey everyone! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Also, a note: This chapter is basically the same as the last chapter, but from Percy's point of view. There were a couple of things I needed to establish in both of their POV's, so here we are. **

**Disclaimer: There's a reason this is here, right? I wouldn't put it here if I really was Rick Riordan.**

Percy looked at Mr. D, who was eating a piece of pizza, as he handed a new schedule to Percy. Because of the construction being done on the pool, hours would change slightly, pushing Percy lessons an hour back. That was okay. He'd just have to talk to his co-workers, and see if they could help him out.

The schedule, as always, was slobbery, and contained minimal information- most of which didn't help him. "Thanks Mr. D," He said, being courteous. That was the best he could do, right? His phone beeped several times, and he looked down to see a couple of texts from Rachel, asking him to pick her up. He tapped his feet against the floor, and awaited a response.

"No problem Perry," Mr. D said, and Percy bit his lip, trying not to laugh. That was a new one. He'd been called Peter, Paul, Patricia (which he _really _didn't understand), and several other 'P' names which were rotated in and out, almost as if it was a cycle. Perry was new though.

There was a knock at the door, and Percy's head swivel around, to see if this might be his cue to leave. Mr. D simply swallowed his pizza, and told her it would be a minute. Percy sighed, and checked his phone again.

"Is there anything else you need more for?" Percy asked, tapping his fingers together.

Mr. D nodded, "You need to take off the Saturday swim class just for this week. The teacher had to cancel, and we have a lot of kids in that class. Money to be made," Mr. D laughed a bit, and Percy bit back a scowl. Of course, that's all Mr. D cared about. Money, Alcohol, and his dream of becoming the owner of a bar.

"Okay," Percy said, "I'm free then," He continued, opening his phone and adding a reminder to his calendar. "That's fine, I'll be there."

Mr. D waved his hand in the air. "Good Peter. Now go, I have someone waiting."

Percy rushed up to the door, and opened it, to see none other than Annabeth Chase, in all of her glory. She backed away, almost as if she was stumbling. Was she really _that _repulsed by him- maybe repulsed wasn't the word, but she definitely did not like him at all.

"Sorry," Percy muttered, and looked at his phone. Rachel was expecting him, and he couldn't let her down, "God, I'm running late," He clicked it off and put it in his pocket, looking Annabeth up and down quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice.

Damn, she looked hot today. Well, she looked hot everyday. That was nothing new. Once his eyes met hers, they flashed with something he didn't expect. It looked like envy, but that couldn't be it, could it? Unless… no, he couldn't get his hopes up. Not for them to be crushed like they did all the time. He tried to talk past her, but stopped when she spoke.

"Um, congrats," She told him, she held the door open to Mr. D's office. She swallowed, and it might have been wishful thinking but her cheeks looked like they were getting red. Maybe it was just him. It probably had been. "Rachel seems nice." That sounded weirdly… genuine. Annabeth wasn't one to give out offhand compliments, and they had hung out today, as Percy knew.

"I don't know why you care." He said, it coming out harsher than he had intended. Now she was looking at him with something else, not envy, but a flash of annoyance, anger even. But her voice, it sounded so familiar to something he'd heard before. That tone, that quality, something about him made him shiver, it was eerily similar to the voice he'd heard the night before. "I-" He stuttered, trying to find a way to make this better. "Thanks. I appreciate it." He told her. He almost wanted to call her "Wise Girl," the old nickname he had had for her, but decided against it. That would just make everything worse. "Annabeth," He finally said, and looked away.

Annabeth turned away, about to go into Mr. D's office. "Um, sure." She said. It was weird, sure wasn't usually the most affirming word. That meant she wasn't jumping for joy about any of this. And to be honest, neither was Percy.

And that sound- her voice, it was so similar to that mysterious voice from the night before, it wasn't just similar, it was the _same. _

"Before you go in," He said, just as she was about to take her first step, "Can you tell me something?" She stopped, and turned to him a bit. She raised an eyebrow at him, which was honestly the most beautiful expression ever to him. "Did you really mean that?"

Annabeth paused, assessing the question, like he knew she did every moment of her life. "Sure," She said, and there it was again. Percy bit his lip, and turned away, knowing what she meant by this. She couldn't lie to him, he knew her, almost better than he knew himself.

Percy cocked his head to the side, and stared at her for a moment. Annabeth ignored this, and walked into Mr. D's office. He stopped for a second, just watching her walk in. She really was gorgeous, in every moment of her life. He wished he could tell her that.

But he couldn't be thinking like this- it was unfair to Rachel, and especially, was unfair to himself. He promised he would try, and he really was doing that. Even so, Annabeth was just so damn appealing. He realized he was attracted to Annabeth. To everything about her.

But Rachel, he thought Rachel was great. And that usually wasn't how you thought of your girlfriend. It was how you thought of a friend.

_Rachel. _Shit, he'd forgotten. He checked his phone, to see three missed texts, asking him when he would be there to pick her up. He slapped himself in the face, and rushed out of the gym, and opened his car, even though the cafe was close.

He soon pulled up to the cafe, and saw Rachel, standing in front, a slightly worried look on her face. He was such a jerk. He hated the way he got- he thought so much about Annabeth, that he forgot about the world around him. It was a horrible thing to do, but he just kept doing it. She always found a way to wiggle in his life, leaving Percy to both love and hate the experience simultaneously.

Getting out of the car, he ran over to Rachel, and gave her a little side hug. "I'm so sorry," Percy said, shaking his head, "I'm such a jerk, I totally forgot."

"It's okay," Rachel said quietly, "You're here now."

Percy tried a grin. "Yeah, do you wanna get out of here now?" He asked, motioning to his car, to which Rachel nodded, and followed him in.

She got herself settled in the passenger's seat, and Percy pulled out of the parking spot. They were both silent, and it was unsettling. Rachel was usually pretty talkative.

"Percy, do you want to stop?" Rachel finally said, quietly. "Because I told you that we could stop at any time."

Percy swallowed, "I- I don't know," he didn't look at her, and kept his eyes traced on the road. "My ex and I-"

"Yeah," Rachel said, "I know you're still hung up on her, whoever she is. And I bet she's a great person."

_She is, _Percy thought. "Yeah," he chose to say, not daring to look over to her.

"I just… I don't want you to lead me on, okay?" Rachel said to him, her voice getting higher pitched, and the speech became faster. "I actually do like you, and I've had a nice time. I understand I'm sort of a way-" he could feel the cringe in her voice, and even the disappointment. "A way of getting over her. Or maybe not. I don't know. But please, tell me if you're actually into this."

Percy was silent. He felt like such an idiot- no scratch that, he was an idiot. Because he stayed silent the rest of the ride, until he dropped Rachel off at her house, and kissed her on the cheek, waving goodbye.

She never did get an answer, because Percy didn't know how to answer a question like that. Most of all, he didn't know how to answer a question like that nicely. And Rachel deserved nice- that was the least he could do.

And she also deserved the truth- the truth that he wasn't over Annabeth, and probably never would be. The truth that, based on what he'd heard, Annabeth felt the same way. She wasn't over him either.

But Percy couldn't tell her that truth. Because unlike the other's it was a harsh truth, not a kind one.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Any predictions or theories? I'd love to hear them in the reviews! You guys are all so awesome, and I really appreciate all the support you've been giving me. It always brightens my day. Especially those who have given me support on my other stories too (you know who you are)!**

**I hope you guys are safe and healthy! **

**TheLil'Lion**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If I were Rick Riordan, you guys would know by now. **

Annabeth knew, somewhere inside of her, that she wasn't over Percy. Even so, she'd forever shut that side up, in hopes that nobody would ever find out. It was a part of her now, the part that thought of Percy all the time.

But it seemed Percy, now at least was over her. And that was a good thing because it let her focus on what was really important: her job, and making connections, relationships. Annabeth wasn't sure why she had picked Rachel to be friends with, especially since she knew she was Percy's new girlfriend.

Fairly new, she had learned from Rachel, when he'd come up in conversation. When she talked about him, Annabeth had to bite her lip, and hold back the sudden flow of envy she had. Instead, she'd turned her sour face into a reassuring one (or so she hoped), and told her it sounded like her boyfriend was nice.

She shook her head, thinking about the entire experience. All she wanted to do was go home, but Piper had asked if she could drop by the therapy office so they could head home together. Of course Annabeth had agreed, Piper was her best friend.

Thalia had also texted her about this get together she and a few friends were having on Saturday at the gym. Annabeth had agreed to come and said she would bring Piper. It seemed her social calendar was suddenly booming.

Because the therapy office was fairly close to where Annabeth was now working, she could get there in about five minutes by foot. She arrived at the center soon enough, and realized she hadn't actually ever been there. She'd always wished she went to a therapist when she was younger, she'd always struggled with anxiety, and was happy when she learned that Piper was trying to become one.

She opened the door and walked in. There was a receptionist waiting by a desk who smiled at her on one side, and then a couple of chair's accompanied by a small little desk which had a water machine, and a container full of mints. The place radiated calmness, Annabeth almost felt like falling asleep right then and there.

She walked over to the receptionist and smiled. "Hello," she said, as she got closer, she realized it was Silena, someone she used to go to school with.

"Do you have an appointment?" Silena looked up, and her eyes widened. "Annabeth!" She said, "It's been so long, how are you doing?"

Annabeth shrugged, "I've been fine. I actually just came here a couple days ago."

"What brings you back to this blessed town?" Silena said, and Annabeth chuckled.

"Well, coincidentally, I got a job, redesigning and leading a team's addition to this gym." Annabeth shook her head back and forth, "The only gym in town, of course."

Silena smiled, "Nice," She said, "Well, what brings you here?" She asked, and motioned towards the room.

"Right, I'm here to pick up a friend. She's new here. Her name is Piper Mclean." Annabeth quickly told her.

Silena grinned, "Piper, oh she's made quite an impression on all of us here. Especially Jason, you know, he happens to be the lead therapist here now."

"Yeah, I heard that," Annabeth swallowed, "From Thalia." _And Percy, _she almost wanted to add. At this stutter, Silena's face immediately softened.

"Oh, have you seen-"

Annabeth swallowed, cutting Silena off. "Yeah, I have. And I'm fine. I really am," She probably sounded like such a madman right now, but she didn't care. "I am…" She hesitated, "Totally over it. Could I, uh, go see Piper?" She looked around, "Where is she?"

"Third door on your right, she's not with a patient right now, so you're free to go in." Annabeth turned away from Silena, and began to walk to Piper's door. "And Annabeth?" Silena added, making Annabeth stop, and look back again, "If you need a familiar face, or anyone to talk to, I'm here. You have my Insta, right?"

Annabeth nodded slowly, and smiled at her. It was nice to see she had loyal friends, even after her six year absence. To be honest, she was surprised Silena even remembered her. They'd always been friends- not super close, but close enough. Silena was pretty popular too, she had a way of calming people down- similar to Piper. They had the same aura, Annabeth guessed.

Once she got to Piper's door, she opened it wide, to see something she had never imagined seeing before, especially after Piper had denied it.

Jason of all people, was kissing Piper, his hand wrapped around her back, pulling her closer to him. And weirdly enough, Piper was kissing back. She almost wanted to close the door, and give them some privacy, but they had already noticed her.

Piper had pushed away, blushing furiously, and Jason looked away. "Uh," He said, looking between the two, "I'm sorry, I- that was a mistake," he fumbled for something in his pocket, and pulled out a pair of keys. Piper looked resolved, and embarrassed.

Jason walked out quickly, and gave Annabeth a quick grin. Annabeth frowned at him. Once he was gone, Annabeth rushed over to Piper, "Oh my god, I am so sorry Piper." She said, and gave her a tight hug, "I didn't mean-"

"It doesn't matter," Piper said, and Annabeth noticed her eyes watering. The girl blinked quickly, as if she was trying to hold back tears, "It was a mistake, right?"

Annabeth pulled out her phone, "Look, I can text Thalia right this instant and tell her to beat Jason up, okay? I'm sure it wasn't a mistake. Was it the first time you…?" she trailed off, not knowing if it was safe to answer.

Piper nodded, "It was, and it'll be the last time." She slung her arm around Annabeth, "Come on, let's get out of here."

She led her out of the therapy office, and Annabeth sent a grateful look at Selena when she didn't say a word about it. She simply mouthed "DM me," and continued with her work, scanning some papers she had been looking at before.

"Do you like Silena?" Annabeth asked. She moved her arm off of Piper's, and opened her phone, getting ready to call Chiron. "I know her from high school, she's awesome."

Piper nodded, but didn't say anything. That was weird, Piper was usually a talkative person. Annabeth called the cab number, and soon enough, Chiron's musty old car arrived. "Hey Chiron," Annabeth said, as she and Piper got in the back.

"Hello Annabeth," Chiron said, looking back. "Where to?"

"Home or bar?" Annabeth whispered to Piper, who quickly replied, "bar." Annabeth gave the address to Chiron, who started to drive over.

"Bad day?" He asked, motioning towards Piper.

Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, kind of. It seems most days are like that, you know?"

Chiron hummed, and continued to drive. "Perhaps," he said, and clicked his tongue. The rest of the ride was silent, as it had been many times. They soon pulled up to the bar, and Annabeth thanked Chiron for the ride. Piper and her got out, and walked to the entrance.

She looked in the bar, her eyes quickly drawn to a couple, that couple being Rachel and Percy, talking. She closed the door quickly, and blinked. "Still want a drink?" She asked Piper, hoping she'd say she had changed her mind.

"Hell yeah." Piper said, "Just because I'm a therapist doesn't mean I can't have fun."

_It won't be much fun for me, _Annabeth thought, but nevertheless swung the door open, and walked in. It was for Piper, right? And maybe Percy wouldn't notice her. Maybe they'd just-

Just her luck. Both Rachel and Percy had turned to them, Percy's mouth shaped in an "O," while Rachel beckoned them over, smiling.

Why did this always have to happen?

**Okay this is random, but holy shit, online school sucks. It's not that hard, and I'm a bit of a nerd, but goddamnit, I really hate it. I mean, with writing and stuff, I'm already online a lot, but still, it really sucks… **

**Anyway, I'd love to hear what you think about this chapter! Any predictions? How do you think the first interaction with Annabeth, Piper, Percy and Rachel will be? I'd love to hear your thoughts!  
**

**Stay safe and healthy!**

**TheLil'Lion**

**Some replies (because I've been forgetting, sorry!)  
**

**Bethpjf, Thank you so much! I'm glad that you're enjoying and are invested in the plot! That makes me so happy to hear!**

**PaigeJames, thank you so much! I'm glad that you like my disclaimers, I put an unhealthy amount of effort into them.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
**

**Disclaimer: There have been so many of these, I don't know if I need to say this, but if you haven't caught on, I'm not Uncle Rick. **

Percy didn't realize at first they'd come in. He thought some random blonde and her friend had popped in, and popped out, realizing that they were going to the wrong place. It happened all the time, right?

Apparently not. Because that random blonde happened to be Annabeth. And her friend happened to be Piper (he hoped he was getting her name right). And then, Rachel was beckoning them over, and now, she was talking to him.

"Annabeth!" She greeted them, and gave Annabeth a quick hug. "It's nice to see you," She said, and looked over to him. "This is my boyfriend, Percy."

Percy studied her closely, trying to see if she would tell Rachel about their relationship. She bit her lip, and smiled, holding her hand out. "It's nice to meet you _Percy." _She said, putting emphasis on his name.

Rachel turned to Piper, who was frowning at Annabeth, to which Annabeth promptly ignored. "Hi," She said slowly, turning to Rachel. "I'm Piper. Annabeth's friend."

"It's nice to meet you Piper," Rachel said, and then looked over at Percy, noticing his starstruck expression. She nudged him, "Are you okay?"

Percy nodded, and tried to smile. "I-" Percy breathed in. "It's probably important to tell you know, that Annabeth and I already know each other."

"Hell yeah you do." Piper looked back and forth at him and Annabeth. "Why were you acting like you didn't." She shook her head. "Dumbasses."

He stared straight at Annabeth, who gasped, just a little bit, and then glared directly at Piper. "Really?" Rachel said, turning to Annabeth. "How do you know each other?"

_What the hell? _Annabeth mouthed to Percy, who simply shrugged. She cleared her throat, and Percy smiled a bit to himself. It would be easier if Annabeth told her the truth. "Well," Annabeth started, still glaring at Percy. "We met in high school. We were a part of the same friend group or clique, I guess. We lost contact when I moved to California," She shrugged, and Percy bit his lip. He should have expected something like that. "It's nice to see you again, _Percy." _She said, smirking at him.

Rachel hummed. "That's so cool. I forgot you moved here from Cali." She leaned forward, "What's it like there? I've always wondered. New York City is really the only big place here, and when I moved from there, everything was just so dull. But Cali, it feels like every place there is special. How is it?"

Annabeth sighed, and looked up. This was one of her tells- Percy knew. Whenever she got passionate about something, she'd turn her head upward, and do this graceful sigh. "California's amazing. I love it there. I mean, this place will always be my home, but I still can't wait to go back there." She stopped, and glanced over at him for a second. Percy shifted uncomfortably. This felt pointed. "Yeah, I mean, there's so many opportunities. If you have talent, you can become anything you want."

Rachel sighed, and then put her head on Percy's shoulder. "That sounds amazing." She looked up at Percy from his shoulder. "Doesn't it?" 

Percy swallowed, "Yeah, it really does." he said, "But you'd have to leave a lot behind, right? Memories, people, the works." He was staring right at Annabeth right now.

She stared right back. "The success makes it worth it. And if those people break your heart anyway, what's it worth to miss them? It's just leaving behind people you can't rely on." She shook her head. "I have no regrets." She continued, and bit her lip, just as he had minutes ago, when he was trying to keep words to himself.

"I don't know about that." Percy said, turning away, and looking at Rachel, who was studying the two of them intently. "I think that what you leave behind always sticks with you. And I also think that love is important too. You can't be successful without love. To be successful, you have to be happy."

Annabeth frowned at him, her eyebrows furrowing done. Shit, he'd struck a nerve. "For your information, I can be successful _without _romance Percy. I've been successful for years, okay? You've been _gone _for years, and I'm doing alright. I have friends that love me. I have a successful career. _That's _what's important. I don't _need _love. It's a want, not a need."

"What?" Rachel said, looking back and forth. "I'm sorry, obviously something is going on between you too, and I don't mean to intrude, but Percy is my boyfriend," She paused, "and Annabeth, you're my friend, right?"

Annabeth nodded.

"It would be nice if you could get along," Rachel finished, holding her hands out between them. She turned to Piper, "And I'm so sorry about this. You must feel left out-" That was what was awesome about Rachel. She always knew what the people around her were feeling.

Annabeth said what she wanted to say. She was confident, but also compassionate. And when she was in an argument, she wouldn't back down. That trait led to many successful conversations, all which had drawn them closer together.

But he couldn't think about that. He had to just-

His phone began to ring, over and over again. The conversation stopped at the sound, and Percy picked it up, looking at the caller ID. It was Jason. Jason never called unless he _needed _to. Something must be wrong. "I have to take this, real quick," Percy said. He kissed Rachel on the cheek. He looked at Annabeth, who looked just a tiny bit perplexed at this action. "And Annabeth?" he said, and she looked up. "I'm really sorry. For everything." He said.

She glared at him even harder, but there was a softness in it- a vulnerability. At that moment, he wanted her so much. He would take her back in a heartbeat at any time, but now? He didn't want to wait, not at all.

He pressed the "accept call" button, and placed the phone to his ear. "Jason," He said, "What's up?" His voice cracked tremendously.

"Thank god you answered," Jason said, "I'm sorry for this, okay? I just need to talk to someone."

Percy nodded, "Sure, what about?" He said, "Bro, if you want to talk about feelings and shit, that's perfectly fine, just give me heads up."

"I screwed up." he said. "For the first time in my life, I royally screwed up." Jason _never _made mistakes. He was like the perfect person. Perfect life, perfect job, and totally a ladies man. "I can't believe I did something so stupid, like-"

Percy cut him off. "Wait, Jason, start from the beginning. Tell me the full story."

"You know how I invited you to come with me when Thalia asked if we could all hang out?"

Percy nodded, though Jason couldn't see him. "Yeah." he said.

"Well," Jason swallowed audibly, "Piper and I talked that day. You know, your ex's friend. And I thought she was nice. We flirted, I guess. Then I found out I was her boss, basically." He paused. "It's shitty to say, but I was excited. "I mean, she was not only beautiful, but also had this great personality."

"Yeah, she's cool." Percy said.

Jason clicked his tongue. "I- I asked her if she wanted to go on a date with me, and she said 'no.' Something about not wanting to date her boss. I understand that, but man, I'm falling hard. It's only been a week or so, I know that, but like… it's crazy. I don't think I've felt this way about a girl, ever. So I kissed her. We kissed, and then your ex interrupted it. Annabeth, I should probably stop calling her that. We did know each other in high school."

Percy chuckled. But he was glad. Everytime Jason referred to Annabeth as his ex, it felt like a stab to the heart. A constant reminder that Annabeth wasn't his, and that he had to man up and accept that.

"I told her it was a mistake," In short, Jason said. "Basically saying that it meant nothing. But it meant something, to me at least. And she kissed back. I mean, I've been thinking about this all day," Jason's voice crackled a bit, but that was expected. It was a phone call after all. "I really like her Percy. And I need to know how I can tell her that."

Percy paused, "I'm hung up on a girl I broke up with six years ago. While dating another girl to try to get over her. I'm not the best guy to ask for advice. Maybe talk to Leo? He and Calypso, they're official now. It's kind of weird. I mean, _Leo _has a more successful relationship than I do."

"I wasn't calling for advice." Jason said, "But as sad as it sounds, it's nice to know that there's someone out there that's a little bit more screwed than me," He laughed, and so did Percy. It was a lighthearted joke, but it still hurt. So much.

Percy cleared his throat, and brushed his hair out of his eyes. He looked back into the bar, where it seemed the whole situation had been cleared up. Piper, Annabeth and Rachel were all laughing together. He almost melted. He'd always loved Annabeth's laugh. It was a little cackle, that sounded like she couldn't breath. He had always made fun of her for having it, but secretly, he loved it.

Damn, that did something to him. "I gotta go Jason." He said, "But call or text whenever, okay man? I'm here for you if you need me."

"Thanks man," Jason said, and hung up, leaving Percy alone, outside the bar. He realized he couldn't go back in the bar- that would make everything worse. So he texted Rachel and made sure she could catch a cab.

Then, he went to his car, and drove home, shrouded by silence. Contemplation was best done by moonlight, so maybe he'd find a way to get some _damn sense _knocked into his brain. Or not. With common sense or without it, he was equally screwed. But of course, he already knew that.

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'd love to hear your thoughts in a review! I'm endlessly appreciative of all the support, thank you all so much! I loved hearing all of your predictions!**

**TheLil'Lion**

**Replies:**

**Booklover, I can't tell you if your predictions are correct, I wouldn't want to spoil it! But, I can tell you there is a lot more in store for Percy and Annabeth. And for your question, I'd have to say normal school.**

**RandomFanAuthor, that's a hard one, but I think I'll go with option two (:**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey guys! I hope you like this chapter! By the way, I posted a one-shot the other day, called "a little more than forever," I'd appreciate it if you could check it out and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. Rick Riordan is not me.**

_Jesus Christ, _Annabeth thought, rubbing her eyes as she looked at herself in the mirror. _Why didn't anyone tell me I look like complete shit? _

When Annabeth had gotten home, she fell onto her bed, her cheeks hot and her eyes watery. She didn't know what to think about the day, just that she was glad that it was over. Percy, Mr. D, everything that had happened, it didn't feel great.

And what was worse, was that Rachel and her were becoming friends, genuine friends. Honesty was one of the most important things in friendship, so at some point, she'd have to tell Rachel everything. But that point wasn't now. She couldn't let it be now.

Especially right after admitting to herself the _stupid _feelings she had for Percy. It would have been so much easier if she could just get over him, like a normal person. In fact, it would have made all of this so much better. There would be no hard feelings. Maybe they could even be friends.

But since when could exes become friends? When did that work? It wouldn't work for Annabeth and Percy, she knew that.

Damnit, why did this have to be so hard? She put her head on the sink, wanting to just disappear. That would certainly give her some perspective. Maybe even closure.

She laughed, what the hell was closure? How had she thought she could _ever _get closure in a situation like this. It seemed impossible, and improbable. She took her head out of the sink, and walked out of the bathroom, to see Piper splayed out on their couch, looking up to the ceiling.

"What's up with you?" She said, trying to keep a strong frontier for her. Piper was the one that was hurting now. She'd been concerned with her own personal problems for far too long.

Piper turned to her, and then went back to her position. "I think I actually like him." She said quietly. "I mean, I don't just want to hook up with him. I just- it's stupid. He's my boss. My literal boss. I've always been adamant about not wanting that."

Annabeth went over to Piper, "Scooch," She said, and sat next to her. "Piper, I know how you feel. Jason saying that was a mistake, it wasn't okay. But…" She winced, thinking about how hypocritical it was of her to say this. "If you like him, if you want him, go for it. The only person stopping you, is well, you."

Piper groaned, "Why is all this romance shit so hard?" She sighed, "In California, most guys liked the no strings attached thing. _I _liked the no strings attached thing. This town is changing me. Plus, even if we did do that whole relationship thing, we're leaving town in a couple of months. What's the point of it?"

Right, they were leaving in just two months. Annabeth constantly had to remind herself of that. The fact that after those months were over, she'd be back in California, in her apartment, living the life she'd always dreamed of. This town had always been too small for her. Might as well just embrace the idea she'd be leaving. Wishful thinking always led to disappointment, and Annabeth Chase would not be disappointed.

Subconsciously, she clicked to her social media, and to Percy's page. She mindlessly scrolled through his photos- pictures of him next to girls she recognized from school, an unnatural amount of shirtless photos from highschool when he was on the swim team. She was torturing herself, she knew that.

They'd both deleted most of the post of them together after the break up, but as Annabeth scolled, she came across some that made her heart beat a little bit faster.

She got to one, of her kissing Percy on the cheek, in front of a big plate of fries. She remembered that day. It was captioned: "The only person in the world I'd share my snacks with."

And because she wanted to get a glimpse of what the relationship had once been, she scrolled through the comments. "Relationship goals," one of them said, with a heart eyed emoji next to it. Yeah, that's what they once were. That obviously in love couple that would kiss in the hallways, and walk hand in hand to class. It was strange to see how much they had changed since then.

Each of the comments said basically the same thing, how they were perfect, how they looked cute, it was absurd how much love was given to them. But then again, they were the golden couple. Perfect, picturesque, and popular, that's what Annabeth and Percy were.

A power couple, their friends called them, all the time. At lunch, they'd always find a way to slink out and kiss under the bleachers, or the janitors closet, wherever was convenient. Those were good memories. Annabeth didn't think that there were any flaws in their relationship until the end of it.

The end of it, Annabeth sometimes wondered if it was her fault. But she always reminded herself, it wasn't her fault she wanted to pursue her dreams. It was Percy's fault that he didn't want to at least _try. _That was all Annabeth had asked for. For them to hold on, for as long as they could, until the knot broke, and they seperated.

Now Annabeth knew why she couldn't move on. Because their relationship had been _so damn perfect. _Sure, they had arguments, but they were always resolved. They agreed on the important stuff, and those petty fights that would last at most, one day would never be held on to.

She scrolled back up to the top of his profile and to his most recent picture. It wasn't anything special, just a little landscape. It didn't look like he'd posted since she'd gotten here. The page was quiet. She tried to get out of the photo, but accidentally double tapped.

Shit. She'd liked the photo. She wasn't even _following _Percy, so he'd know she was stalking him immediately. She frantically unliked it, but it was too late. He'd probably already seen. What a pisser.

She turned to see Piper, who had fallen to sleep on the couch. She did have a lot to drink, Annabeth decided, and left her there. Everything would settle in soon for her.

She looked back at her phone, and as a follow notification popped up. She checked it, and pushed her phone against the coffee table, which stood in front of the couch.

"Percy Jackson started following you." It read. She slapped herself in the face, the stupidity of this all made her want to burst. This really wasn't good.

She shut her phone off, and put it down to charge. Dealing with this _shit _in the morning was the only thing she could do. It was late, and she was tired, and maybe when she woke up the next morning, this would all be a dream.

**I honestly don't know how I feel about this chapter. It was kind of filler, just to get the next stage of the plot moving. But I hope you guys enjoyed it!**

**I hope everyone is safe and healthy! I think that's it for now, but yeah! Have an excellent morning/afternoon/evening/night.**

**TheLil'Lion**

**Replies:**

**HoO Storys, I'm not sure, but I think that there will be about ten to fifteen more chapters. The KBHK sequel will come right after that, or maybe even as I write, I'm not sure. **

**Caelus226, Thank you so much! I'm very glad that you are enjoying it, and like I said above, I think there will be up to fifteen more chapters.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Hey guys! I hope that you'll enjoy this next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Only one out of the 7.594 billion people in the world are Uncle Rick, and so I'd have to be pretty lucky to be him.**

Percy woke up in a start, a cold realization gripping his back. He had dreamed about the night, in his car, when that voice, silky and smooth had given him advice. Said that they understood what he was going through, and that they were to.

The thing is, it all made sense. That made sense why she'd liked his photo last night. And of course, he'd impulsively started following her again. He didn't remember when he'd unfollowed her. Probably a drunken night of crying. But she'd liked his photo. That meant something.

And that was the exact moment Percy realized- unlike before, when he had a suspicion, that Annabeth really was that person. And that meant that she wasn't over him too. He couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing, but what it did mean, was that there was a chance. The universes were giving them a chance to redeem themselves, and Percy didn't know if he could take it.

Last year, even last month he'd take it in a heartbeat. In fact, now, he was questioning himself, telling himself, _should I take this? _

Maybe he could, but not now. And as he thought about it, not ever. He'd promised himself two weeks now. To see if this Rachel thing would work out. Even calling it a "Rachel" thing meant that it definitely wasn't going to.

But either way, he ended up feeling shitty. In fact, by waiting longer, he felt even more shitty. So maybe it was better to let her down lightly at the end of the week, and then talk to Annabeth. Tell her what he felt- how he wasn't over her.

He didn't know if it would work- if Annabeth would ever consider getting back with him. Frankly, it was a shot in the dark, but he had to try. At least mend a little bit of his heart- make sure that it wasn't totally broken.

And he'd fixed it, a little bit on the way. His friends had helped, but there was still a gaping whole in the middle of it. The threat that it was too broken to be fixed- that he was too broken to be fixed.

As funny as it was to think, Percy had plans. He never thought he would be stuck here, in this town for the rest of his life. He thought he'd get a scholarship, maybe even save enough money to go to college, get the girl and keeper. None of those had happened, and he'd resorted to community college, the dull idea of sameness, and losing the girl.

Annabeth and him had always skittered around the idea of college. It was conveniently avoided- maybe that was the one thing that had gone wrong with their relationship. They'd thought about their futures individually, but not together. If they'd really held on, they maybe would be able to stretch long distances. Sure, for so many people it hadn't worked, but for them, in retrospect, it would.

He rubbed his forehead, and finally got out a bed. Better to start the day now then continuing to contemplate the inevitable experiences of the day. It seemed everyday something slightly heart wrenching happened.

Annabeth Chase always seemed to involve herself in his day. And when he saw her, he had thoughts he shouldn't have. No good man with a girlfriend should look at another girl, admire her beautiful hair, her athletic yet curvy build, and that signature smile- confident, yet kind. She was such a tease, while also being amazingly sweet.

But of course, Percy was not a good guy. In principle he was- he did good things, he offered to help old ladies cross the street, he was patient with the kids he taught, he was always good-natured about taking over shifts, like the one he had to do Saturday.

The problem was, the huge goddamn problem was, the fact that Percy had a screwed up head. It wasn't because of his ADHD, or his dyslexia, it was because of his heartbreak.

The hardest part of this was that he couldn't talk to anybody about it. He couldn't tell Leo, because being the blabbermouth he was, he'd find a way to accidentally reveal it to the entire world. He couldn't talk to Jason, because of his thing with Piper, so really the only person he could go to, was the one person who hated him.

Thalia.

He sighed, and grabbed his phone, ignoring the three texts Rachel had sent him both from last night, and this morning. They all asked if he was okay, but as rude as it was, Percy didn't feel like answering it. He couldn't deal with this stuff right now.

He booted up Thalia's contact, and nervously scratched the back of his neck as he tapped the call button with his other hand. It rang, three times, now four, and she wasn't answering. Why would she anyway?

But then, miraculously, she picked up. "Percy Jackson." She said, clicking her tongue. "You certainly keep managing to squirrel your way into Annabeth's life. I just got off the phone with her. She seemed a bit disheartened."

"Yeah. I just-" He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. "I keep screwing up. With this Rachel thing, I don't know how to end. And I want Annabeth. I really do. But I'd feel like a shitty person, I _already _feel like a shitty person, for breaking it off with Rachel. I promised myself I'd try."

Thalia was silent for a moment, and then snorted. "Percy, you don't have to prove anything to yourself. As much as I hate to admit it, you're a good guy. You made Annnabeth happen." She paused. "That is, until you didn't. Now, Rachel seems like a nice girl, at least from what Annabeth told me. I'm sure there would be no hard feelings."

"I know," Percy said, shaking his head once more, "I know, I mean, I was thinking of breaking it off by next friday."

If he could see Thalia, she'd probably be frowning. "Why string her along for longer?"

"It's not stringing her along, it's more like." Percy bit his lip. There really was no way to phrase this that would make it sound remotely decent. "I don't know, letting her down lightly." He could tell she was judging her. "Look, I just want one last chance with her, Annabeth. Fix all broken wounds, maybe try the long distance thing, but only if she wants it."

Thalia sighed. "Look, I'm sure you both want it. It's pretty freaking obvious. Shit, anybody could see it. And I think she does. But Annabeth's always been stubborn. And she has a huge guilty conscience- plus, Rachel's her friend now. I don't think she'd want to lose that friendship."

Percy tried to convince her his approach was best. "Which is why I'm going to let her down lightly." He said, "I tried. I tried really fucking hard to get over her. For a while, I hooked up with girls, I tried dating Rachel once, and now I'm in that same situation again. But I can't. I can't, I really want Annabeth Chase. She's so important to me, and I know I'm an asshole for saying this, but I'll never love anyone as much as I love her."

"Jesus Christ." Thalia breathed. "That's a lot to take in." She stopped for a moment. "You already have my blessing, water boy, okay? I gave you that the other day. All I'm saying is." She breathed audibly into the phone. "Be careful, okay? Be careful."

"Right." Percy said.

Thalia hesitated. "And if you need someone to talk to, you know, you can talk to me I guess. I mean, I may get mixed into this type of shit to. So yeah."

"Sure." He said, and then swallowed. "Thanks Thalia. I really appreciate it." He finished, and then hung up.

Holy shit, even though it was Friday, he could tell this next coming week would be a nightmare.

**Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, and I'd love to hear your thoughts below. Reviews, favorites, and follows always make me so happy, and I always get really happy when a notification pops up. **

**But damn, our boy Percy is really in for a ride, isn't he? I hope you'll continue reading and join him on it!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hey! I hope you enjoy this chapter, thanks so much for all of the support! Also, I posted (another, I know) one-shot yesterday, and I'd appreciate it if you could check it out! I've had so much time lately, so I've been writing a bunch of them.  
**

**Disclaimer: I love PJO and HoO too much to have written them. A writer always sees flaws in their own work, and I see PJO and HoO as flawless, which proves, indeed, I have not written them. **

Saturday. Annabeth could hardly believe how long she'd made it through this entire work process. What had it been, two weeks? It seemed like ages. Like entire chapters of her life had passed in the matter of just fourteen days.

She hadn't realized how long she'd been here- just yesterday, she'd claimed she'd been her only for a couple days. But that certainly wasn't the case. It had been weeks. Two weeks to be exact. It was weird how time could fly by so fast and so slow at the same time. The days went by slowly, but they blended together easily. She felt like she did the same thing every day.

Wake up, eat breakfast, ignore Percy as he came into the Bed and Breakfast, catch a cab ride with Piper and head to work. Take a lunch break. Finish work. Head back home, occasionally with a bar stop on the way. She did the rountinue compulsively, she was getting used to it. And it was nice to see the parts of her childhood that she'd left behind.

But it also hurt. It hurt _so _much, because no matter how much she tried to deny it, the memories she'd had, the memories with Percy, specifically.

She had become so good at blocking it out, but once she moved back to this godforsaken town, all the walls she'd built crumbled, making her vulnerable. It had been so long since she'd felt vulnerable, but it felt good and bad. In California, she was never put on the spot. There was nothing weighing her down there, she had a clean slate.

And she liked and disliked that. For one, it was nice, not having to watch your back. Not having to worry about seeing someone from your past might ruin anything. But on the other hand, she had nothing to be nostalgic about- nothing to take comfort in. The lack of memories there was both a healing thing and a harmful thing. It was a balance Annabeth had disregarded for a long time.

But back at this town, that balance was broken. Utterly shattered. Because she was surrounded by memories. She had been surrounded by memories. And when she didn't have work to occupy her, like today, when it was a Saturday, she was forced to take in all those memories. She couldn't push them to the side and ignore them.

Which is why she decided she would embrace them. She was meeting up with Thalia at the gym, and probably a couple of her own friends. It wasn't closure, and she felt weird even calling anything closure. She'd used it as an excuse for her actions far too much, and couldn't call this it.

It was just a fun time with friends, right? Nothing more. She'd introduce Piper, talk, and they'd fall into an easy rhythm. It was easy peasy. She could do that.

She woke Piper up from her slumber, and told her if she wanted to grunt and groan, she'd have to get coffee by herself. That seemed to wake her up, and they got ready to leave.

Walking downstairs, she surveyed the area, making sure Percy wasn't there. She turned to Piper, who was rolling her eyes, and continued out. Heading to a nearby cafe, they ordered drinks, and drank them quickly. Piper and Coffee never mixed well, causing an explosion of random sentences and thoughts, but if it meant she would shut up about Percy, Annabeth would gladly purchase some for her.

"This is literally the best coffee I've had." Piper said, squeezing her hands together. She looked hyper, too hyper.

Annabeth hummed. "Better than LA's."

"Dude, LA coffee is like…" Piper wrinkled her nose. "Too commercialized. This feels homemade."

Annabeth laughed. Piper had grown up in LA, and she usually only visited other places for her dad's job. Apparently, they filmed a scene here, so it was slightly surprising to Annabeth no one recognized Piper. Because of her dad, she had a mass of Instagram followers, which somehow gave Annabeth more Instagram followers.

"Well," Annabeth said, as she picked up her phone, going to call Chiron for a ride, "You'll be getting used to this, I guess. We have a bit longer to spend here." 

Piper clicked her tongue, and then took another sip of her drink. "Honestly, I don't know why you don't like this place. It seems like a dream. I've been surrounded by celebrities my entire life, and this is weirdly calming. Nobody recognizes me, no one tries to convince me to let them facetime my dad, no one even cares. It's great."

"Maybe for you," Annabeth muttered. "This town has so many good memories attached to it, I'm not denying that." She looked over her shoulder, almost as if Percy was behind her. "But I… one big bad memory really destroys it all."

Piper looked at Annabeth thoughtfully. "When is Chiron getting here?" 

"I haven't called yet." Annabeth replied.

Piper nodded. "You do that. Gym, remember?"

Annabeth made the call, and they sat in silence next to each other, until Chiron arrived. The drive was quiet until they arrived, to see Thalia, and several other of Annabeth's old friends waiting at the entrance of the gym.

"Annabeth!" Thalia said, "Ugh, I feel like we haven't met up as much as we should. I'm glad you decided to come." She turned to Piper. "Nice to see you Piper." She nodded.

Piper smiled a bit tightly. Annabeth understood why she was nervous. It was intimidating, seeing all these new people. Even for Piper, someone who was forced to socialize with new people on the daily, and have deep conversations with them.

Annabeth scanned the crowd, well, not a crowd, it was about Six people apart from Thalia. She recognized most of them. Hazel, Frank, Nico, Will, and Silena. There was one girl she didn't recognize, she had a fierce look in her eyes, that said, _don't mess with me. _

From everyone's body language, it seemed most of them had linked up. Hazel and Frank, that was inevitable, they'd been interested in each other forever. It was nice one of them finally made a move. Will and Nico, they'd always had this cute relationship, and they got together nearing the end of Senior year. It was nice to see they'd stayed together. Silena, as far as Annabeth knew, hadn't been in a relationship, but the ring on her left ring finger, she was married, or engaged.

She hadn't noticed that the other day. "Oh," Thalia said, interrupting her thoughts. "This is Reyna."

The girl she hadn't recognized smiled a bit, her harsh gaze turning accepting. Annabeth held out her hand, and gave a firm shake. Satisfied, the girl- Reyna, stepped back, and smiled at Thalia.

"Nice to meet you Reyna." Annabeth said, and then motioned over to Piper. "This is Piper."

Piper smiled, "Hey! You look kind of farmilar. Do you work with Silena or something?" She asked.

Reyna looked her up and down, not impressed at all. Piper looked taken aback, and Annabeth could understand why. Usually, people instantly liked Piper. She was magnetic like that. She was friendly, sociable, and most of all, daring. "Yeah." Reyna said cooly. "I work with Jason."

Piper's eyes widened in realization. "Are you his friend?" She bit her lip. "That Reyna?'

"Obviously." Reyna's lip curled, and Piper winced, ever so slightly. It was enough that somebody who wasn't looking would notice.

For several seconds, there was a silence. "So!" Hazel clasped her hands together, desperately attempting for a subject change. "You look great Annabeth, It's nice to see you again. We haven't talked in ages."

"Right," Annabeth said, and turned away from Reyna. "Yeah, you too Hazel. It's nice to see you and Frank finally fessed up your feelings and got together."

Frank went bright red, and so did Hazel, though it was less noticeable, almost as if she'd gotten used to the teasing. "And Silena," Annabeth turned to her. "You tied the knot? To who." She asked, looking earnestly over. If jumping from person to person would help settle the air between Piper and Reyna, then she'd spare her social anxiety.

"Oh yeah!" Silena's eyes brightened up. "Beckendorf. He's amazing." She gushed. Silena had always been the type of girl to have short infatuations, and being popular meant that she could pursue those. It was cool to see she'd settled down, and found someone she really liked. It was fine, dating people casually, to find the right person, and it seemed that she had.

Annabeth scratched the side of her head. "Beckendorf- I think I work with him. He seems like a good guy, congratulations."

"Thank you," Silena said, and it seemed sincere. "How about we go on in, that was the point of this, right? To work out together, stuff like that, catch up?"

Annabeth smiled. She worked at this place, sure, but that didn't mean she couldn't take advantage of the facility. Plus, she was ninetey nine percent sure Percy didn't work here on weekends, so she didn't have to worry about that. _Thank god. _

It was time to reconnect- something that Annabeth had been itching to do for a while.

**Another filler chapter. I hope it turned out okay- one major plot point is coming up soon, so I just had to set up for that. I think you guys will like what happens next, but obviously, no spoilers. **

**Anyway, I hope you all stay safe and healthy! Thanks so much for reading!**

**TheLil'Lion**

**Replies:**

**SeaMaster, I can't take it either *shakes head* why won't they just get back together? *looks at plot map* oh… that's why. Thanks so much for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

**theonewhoisBEST, thanks so much! I'm glad that you're enjoying it! The slow burn is killing me too.**

**Ksi, Percy broke up with Annabeth because of both insecurities, and because they would be in a long distance relationship. I hope that you're enjoying the story (:**


	29. Chapter 29

**I hope you guys enjoy this! As I said in the last chapter, a pretty important plot point is coming up in this chapter and the next!**

**Disclaimer: Look, I haven't researched enough about the greek myths to write three entire book series about them, Percy Jackson (and several other books) are to my knowledge… so, take that as a clue.  
**

Percy didn't realize how hard it was to teach lessons to kids he didn't know as well. They flailed about, and Percy had no clue how to calm him. His fault for having courtesy and being cool with taking over lessons. _Good job me, _Percy frowned, trying to shut them up.

They were in the shallow end, and thank goodness they could touch the bottom of the pool with their small feet, because if not, Percy would be screwed, having to save kid after kid.

He stood outside of the pool, instructing the kids how to freestyle, and how to stay safe while swimming in general. He liked teaching, bringing a smile to parents and kids' faces when they finally learned they could swim, or that their kid was swimming. It was wholesome.

He scanned the area, looking to see a group of people his age, he didn't get a good glance at them, as he was focused on the kids. They were probably going to one of the workout rooms. Most adults either swam laps, or lifted weights and did exercise.

He continued with the lesson, talking to each kid, trying to figure out what they were having trouble with. Most of them seemed to know the basics, but there was this one kid, Percy was pretty sure his name was Harely, that just _could not _swim.

But the kid was bright, Percy could see it in his eyes. It was quite obvious how he wanted to learn, but he just couldn't. Percy was lucky he hadn't drowned. Percy didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't swim though, that this class was too advanced, because he wasn't a jerk. Plus, maybe with the actual instructor he could swim.

He walked the kids through their lesson, and decided to end with a relay race, just as he had with his normal classes. Lifting his hands up in the air to grab his whistle, he put it to his mouth.

Before he could blow in it, a loud splash at the other side of the pool made his head turn. It was the deep end- about twelve feet, and if you couldn't swim, you were doomed. He looked over, to see Annabeth, desperately trying to grasp the side of the pool.

Shit, her hand was falling from it, and she was sinking. The one thing about Annabeth was that she couldn't swim very well. Whenever they went in the water together, usually to make out (Percy wasn't going to deny it), he'd always hold her up, being the gentleman he was.

This was bad, very, very bad. "Get out of the pool real quick guys," He said quickly, "This'll be a second." He took off his lifeguard t-shirt, and jumped into the water, swimming as fast as he could (and he had the county record for free-style).

As he swam, the water droplets splashed around him. The shock of getting into the cold water wasn't great, but Percy was used to it by now. He swam as fast as he could, and dived down to grab and sink Annabeth, who was trying to swim up, her eyes wide open and shot, and her mouth open.

That was even worse. He grabbed her, and dragged her to the surface as fast as he could. Percy was pretty strong (scratch that, very), from the days in the gym, so he was able to carry her without much complaint from his muscles.

His mind went blank as he stared down and touched her cold face. Her eyes were not closed, but thank god her heart was pumping. It was weird to think this, but how did she still look amazing?

When he looked up at her friends, all concerned, he snapped out of it. Protocol, protocol, his mind begged, scanning through the various choices he could make to help her. That is, until a memory of an article he'd read came up, "for instance in near-drowning and opiate overdoses," it read.

It was now or never right?

He gently tilted her head back, using one hand to hold her chin up and open her mouth a bit wider. Placing his other hand on her forehead, he pinched her nose with a pointer finger and thumb. _God, what the hell am I doing, almost romanticizing trauma. What the hell was this? _This didn't mean anything- it was stupid of him to even think that.

He continued, covering her mouth with his, and blowing into it for a second. Her chest rose up, and then back down. Percy blew again, and then once more, until her eyes opened quickly, startled, alert. He pulled away, and she looked at him, "Holy shit," She said, shaking her head, in shock. "I love-" She stopped herself, and then shook her head.

What the hell? What was she saying, that she loved him? Holy shit, that changed a lot. Still, he had nothing to confirm but his own heart to confirm what she was actually going to say, so it was best he let it go for now (or not, because that was probably what he was going to do).

She stopped herself, and then got up. "Thanks for that," she breathed, and then swayed from side to side. Percy looked at her concerned, "It's fine," Annabeth waved her hands in the air, "Clumsy me, look away guys. I'm good. We're all good." She swayed even more.

"Do you want me to-" Percy cut in, before he was interrupting.

Annabeth looked at him, "I'm good." That cold, harsh tone was back, the one that made Percy back away and stop. She'd had the tone the other night, when she'd gotten mad at him. Probably because he'd baited her, said something stupid, hopefully looking for a positive response. Which he hadn't gotten, but that wasn't the point.

"Sorry." Percy muttered, and Annabeth looked to Piper. He took this chance to look at the group, and saw all of his friends from high school- from their clique, their group. When Percy had broken up with Annabeth, they'd sort of fell apart. At least, in Percy's point of view. He hadn't hung out with them in a while.

But it seemed Annabeth was getting herself acquainted.

He forced himself not to get jealous, and looked away. "Okay well, bye." He waved his hand awkward, and walked over to the kids he was teaching. Each child, out of the water per his instructions, looked him up and down, confused.

Harley was the first one to speak. "Why'd you kiss that girl?" He snorted, and giggled, "Is she your girlfriend?" He dragged the word out, and to be honest, who was he? Getting half hurt by an eight year old. Pathetic, that was it. Absolutely pathetic.

"No, I was just helping her." Percy said, "She was drowning, if you want to become a lifeguard or swimming teacher like me when you're older, you'll have to learn how to do it." Percy wanted to laugh. Who wanted to be stuck like him when they were older. No one, that was the answer.

"Ew." Harley wrinkled his nose, "That's gross, girls have cooties." He continued, and then was promptly slapped Billie, a girl in the class.

"Girls don't have cooties," She said, and then turned away, and looked at Percy innocently, her eyes wide. "That's boys, except you." She said, "You're cool."

Percy held out his hand for a fist bump, and Billie softly bumped her fist against his. He felt himself still shaking from what had happened, but forced himself to put on an earnest face for the kids. The lesson was almost over anyway, he could handle this.

He shook his head, looking at the exit Annabeth had left in, remembering how she had bolted away as fast as she could. He had to talk to her now, seriously. Just get this entire thing sorted out, so he could have the record straight.

**I know I'm cliche. I know I'm cliche. I know I'm cliche. I was actually really nervous about posting this chapter, because I thought it might ruin the story... some might say it's out of the blue (pun intended), but I'm just going to say that I've been setting this one plot point up for so long, and this was finally the chapter I could add it in… so yay!**

**(but truly, I'm sorry I've fallen for the cliches and I hope I haven't ruined the story…)**

**On another note, thanks so much for all the support! I really appreciate it!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	30. Chapter 30

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: If I was Rick Riordan, I'd probably say so (over, and over again, it'd get kind of annoying).**

She'd thought the words too much over the past two weeks, but it didn't matter, because she was saying them again. _What the hell? _She muttered to herself, over and over again, ignoring Piper's concerned looks.

_What the hell had she caught herself almost saying? _Sure, it was a life of death type circumstance, but still _what the hell?_

All of it was getting repetitive at this point, it felt like everyday the same things were circling through her head, chastising her. Making this godforsaken move last longer than it should. Sometimes, like now, she just wanted to scream. Bury her face into her pillow, and let it all out, not carrying who would hear.

She wanted to not feel self-conscious of herself, to be able get through the day without looking back and forth. But of course now, avoidance was key. She didn't want to see Percy. She didn't want to see anyone, except for maybe Piper.

And she couldn't face her old friends. The concerned look on their faces when Piper had ushered her out, she didn't want to face those again. Especially Thalia's. Thalia rarely pitied anyone, but at that moment, she looked like she really did.

Burying her head into her pillow, she cringed, having a quick flashback to what had happened. It wasn't even a kiss, she knew that. There was nothing romantic about mouth to mouth. It literally only happened so that she wouldn't drown, or die. She knew that, and there was no reason to overthink it. She didn't even know why she was, she was trying to get over Percy.

And plus, he would do that to anyone. She wasn't special- she'd never be. She was an ordinary woman, out of seven point eight billion people. It didn't matter what she did, because it wouldn't have an impact on everything. With all of her years alive, she'd met people that had an impact on her own life, but what did that really matter? Her life wasn't meaningful. And yes, she'd live it, even if the days were hard to get through.

She pulled herself up from her sheets, and groaned again. Why did all of this romance shit have to be so hard? Why couldn't this be a romance novel, where the route to sorting herself would be much easier to see. An immaculate plan would fall into place in just seconds, and Annabeth would hurrah at her own prowess.

She tapped her head. There wasn't much prowess in there as far as she was concerned. Really, the only thing going through her mind was avoidance. Because avoidance always worked in real life. Sure, in the movies there was always some dramatic reunitions scene, but this was real life. Not the movies.

She checked her watch again, and it only showed that thirty minutes had passed. Piper had retreated to her room to do some work on a patient which Annabeth obviously couldn't see (confidentiality and all that shit), so she was alone, forced to tend to her own wounds.

She grabbed her phone. Hopefully it would offer her some kind of Solace. It was clouded with texts from her friends, which she tried to ignore. They all said the same thing, "Are you and Percy back together?" "Are you okay Annie?" "You can talk to us about anything you know?" "What's up with you and Percy? You guys are both acting weird." "Call us if you need us, okay?"

She knew confrontation was coming, but in that time period, she tried the best to avoid it. Luckily Piper didn't ask too many questions. She just drove her back to the hotel, and let her cry her eyes out on the bed. Piper was awesome like that.

And the first step to revitalization, Instagram.

She clicked out of that a minute later. In some cases, taking a peek into other people's glamorous lives was great, but now, it made her want to barf. Who cared that a certain celebrity got a new dog? The fact that her west coast friends were staying up and partying all night was stupid. Normally, she'd direct message one of them and ask for a location, but now, it felt stupid.

She switched to her kindle app. But that too offered no cleansing to her wounds (or whatever you called them, she didn't dwell on the logistics).

For the last month, she'd been reading the same science fiction book. It was pretty thick, but interesting. The plot was slow moving, and although it was a good book, she found herself yawning at it. Obviously that wasn't working.

Final try: Youtube. If this didn't work, she was surely going insane. Watching random videos on youtube always helped. Through the years, she'd gone through so many spirals, and discovered so many weird videos, that she absolutely loved.

There was something cleansing, almost, about seeing someone that was a little bit more crazy than you were. Annabeth's secret guilt: she loved watching cringey, clickbait vlogs. They made her laugh, just the inaneness, the stupidity of it all. She'd giggled about it many times, up all night, wondering _how the hell _these people got the idea to do something like this.

This day was no different. She clicked onto one of the vlog channels, and giggled as the intro started. This was one of the only things she giggled at. Other times she maintained this little cackle, a snort, almost as if she was a halloween witch, cackling over a cauldron.

The timeline said the video was about twenty minutes, and she told herself that after this, she would go to be. The sheer stupidity of it might lure her to sleep, she thought, and giggled again.

"Holy shit," She laughed, setting the phone down as the video ended. "What the hell?" She whispered to herself, and then looked to her phone again.

It wouldn't hurt to watch one more… she told herself.

At least four videos later and four sodas, she shook her head. _Yeah, that definitely hurt more. _It had been an hour since everything, and Annabeth found that hard to believe. Just an hour? It had felt like eternity.

Sometimes it was nice to indulge and forget. It was better if she wasn't drinking too. She'd felt herself wanting to go to the bar, and just _drink _many times before, and a lot of those times, she had. In some cases, it helped, but in others, it left her feeling hungover and unsatisfied. It was a short term solver, and although Annabeth, as all other twenty-five years olds, she liked to drink.

When she was twenty-one, just legal, everyone was doing it. Annabeth had been more hesitant, but eventually it had helped. Not completely, because it always left her with this empty feeling after it, but for the moment it did.

But since then, Annabeth had been trying to find long term solutions to solve her own problems. And now, she had a lot of problems. Plus, if stuff like stupid youtube vlogs would help her, then of course she was going to take it.

That is, without Piper or anyone else knowing. She wasn't _that _brave.

So she continued her cycle, watching videos and checking social media. It would help her, for now at least.

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was again, kind of filler for what's happening next, but I still hope you liked it. I'm really working towards our next plot point, so hopefully, we get there soon enough. I'd like to thank everyone for the support- you guys are all awesome, thank you all so much!**

**Stay safe and healthy!**

**TheLil'Lion**

**Replies:**

**Caelus226, thank you so much! That means a lot, and I'm glad you've began writing more because of this (:**

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	31. Chapter 31

**Hey! I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
**

**Disclaimer: If I killed off half as many characters as Rick does, I'd have a bunch of readers chasing with pitchforks. What that means, is sadly, I'm not brave enough to be Rick Riordan.**

Percy needed to find her so they could sort this out. He raced back to the bed and breakfast as fast as he could, just to catch her. But with his luck (and Mr. D asking to talk to him, which ended up being a thirty minute discussion, slow car speed, multiple red lights, and several conversations with strangers he couldn't get out of), she was already sheltered in her room, and it would be a ridiculous invasion of privacy to get in there. It had been an hour- maybe two since everything.

But, it couldn't hurt to knock on the door, right? It's not like he was bursting into the room in a full speedo. He was decently dressed, and knocking.

Opening up the door to the stairs, he sighed, and tried to block out all the negative emotions going through his head. It was no use, but he tried. At least he could say that.

He paused for a second, before knocking, and then tapped lightly onto the door. "Go away." A voice called out, one that resembled Annabeth's. "I'm busy."

"Feisty are we?" Percy muttered. "Please Annabeth, open up. We need to talk."

Annabeth's voice stilled on the other side, as if she was in realization of who was at the door. "No we don't," She said slowly, almost as if she was paralyzed. "Thank you for helping me Percy. But we don't need to talk."

Percy cleared his throat. He knew she really didn't want to talk to him. That was obvious. He could see that. But this- this was something he needed to understand. He needed to realize what this meant. He needed to know if it meant anything at all.

Most of all, he wanted to know if what she had said, or started to say, was true. "Annabeth, please?"

She stopped, pausing for a moment, and Percy almost thought she was giving in, opening the door. Maybe if he was lucky, letting her in.

"You can't do this." She said finally, after a moment of silence. "You have a girlfriend. There is nothing to talk about. I-" she stuttered for a moment, and then pulled back, reordering her phrasing. Percy knew this, because she'd done it so many times before. Sometimes, there was so much going through her head, that she didn't know how to phrase things. It showed her intelligence.

Shit, he couldn't think about that. _You're still dating Rachel, _he thought, constantly feeling like a douche. Who had to remind themselves they were in a relationship? It was a screwed up thing to do. Even though he had decided to end things, for his own sake, it was still important to stay faithful.

God, he felt so bad for Rachel. _So _bad. He wished he could like her the way she did to him. He wished that he hadn't screwed up years ago- that this wasn't happening, and that he and Annabeth didn't have to experience this.

Shit, that was an even worse thought. "I-" it was Percy's turn to stutter now. "I'm sorry. I should leave."

Annabeth's voice was harsh behind the wall. "Yeah, you should."

"But I can't," He said, his voice low and rough, "please Annabeth, open up, we need to talk."

Annabeth stuttered. "I can't."

"Please." Percy persisted. "Please Annabeth. Let me talk, and if you still don't want me after, I'll leave. I swear just let me talk."

Annabeth stopped, and he could hear her clear her throat on the other side. "Fine." She said. "You can come in." She opened the door slowly, and Percy took her in. Her eyes were red, and she had earbuds on, holding her phone in her hand. Her curly locks stuck in all directions (probably because of the unfortunate swim she'd had earlier in the day.)

He went in, and looked around the room. He'd cleaned this place up a lot, but Annabeth had somehow made it look exactly like it was hers. She beckoned him over to the couch, and we went to sit. "So." She said sourly. "Talk."

"I love you Annabeth." He said, "and I hate that I do, and I know that you hate that I do. I know I'm in a relationship. I know it isn't fair to Rachel. I know I'm a dick, okay? I know that."

Annabeth didn't say anything. He wasn't helping him out at all. He cleared his throat. "But I can't help loving you." He said, looking up at her tearfully. "I want you Annabeth."

"Why not Rachel?" She said, after a moment of silence. "Rachel is awesome. She's amazing. She's the best. And she's perfect for you. She's a great person."

Percy shrugged, and simply said, "she's not you. I wish I could love her. But I only see her as a friend."

"Then why are you stringing her along?" Annabeth frowned, "Why don't you just tell her, break up with her?"

Percy stared at her. "Because I made a promise to myself I'd give it a try. Three weeks, is what I said. I was going to end it next weekend. But I just…" he trailed off, "I can't stay away from you Annabeth. It's crazy, it's like I'm a magnet, and your metal. I just am constantly attracted to you. I'm sorry. It's true."

They looked at each other for a long time, just assessing the situation. Until Annabeth finally spoke, breaking it. "I do love you Percy." She said. "I constantly remind myself not to say that, or even think it, but it's true." She shook her head. "I can't deny it."

"Then-" Percy said, moving closer to her. It seemed that they were moving to each other. Percy wrapped his hand around her neck, bringing her close to him. It felt _so nice _for her to be in his arms.

And then, when he thought that their lips were going to touch, a finger went to his lips. Annabeth pulled away. "I'm not going to kiss you Percy."

He felt surprised, and then bad for feeling surprised. Of course she didn't want to do this. Hell, Percy shouldn't be doing it. _He had a girlfriend. _Holy shit, cheating was literally the worst thing he could possibly do. Thank god Annabeth stopped it.

"I'm not doing that to Rachel." She shook her head. "She's my freind for fuck's sake!"

Percy's eyes widened. "But-"

"Don't string her along Percy." Annabeth said, turning away solemnly. "If you don't like her like that, break up with her. But I'm not kissing you while you're dating her."

Percy nodded. "I will, I swear, I'll end it." He hesitated. "But after that, what are we?" _I want to try again, _he stopped himself from adding.

"I- whatever we want." Annabeth said. She looked guilty, and then Percy felt bad about putting her in this situation. "And please. Don't tell Rachel about us. Don't make excuses. Tell her the real reason." She sighed. "And then, we can tell her everything together."

"I want to be with you Annie." Percy said. "I want to be the one you wake up to. I want to be the one that cheers you on. I want you."

Annabeth's frown turned up, just slightly. If you hadn't been looking, you wouldn't notice, but Percy was looking (they were so close, he couldn't not), and he noticed.

She pulled away a bit. "Percy." she said, "Before anything, I need you to tell me something."

He pulled back to, almost scared of what she was going to say next. "What?" He asked cautiously.

"Why did you do it?"

"What?"

"You know what."

Percy bit his lip. He did. "I- I was scared."

"Of what?" Annabeth brows furrowed.

He shook his head. "You wouldn't understand." He said, "You'd say I was stupid."

"Try me." Annabeth fired back.

"I was scared that you'd find someone better." He started, turning fully away from her. "I was scared of long distance, most long distance relationships fail, and most of all, I was insecure. I didn't want you to see that, and I thought by ending everything I was helping you."

Annabeth's face was expressionless. He tried to gauge what she was thinking, but he couldn't. And it was scaring him. "That's so stupid." She finally said, shaking her head. "I had those insecurities to Percy. Everyone does. That didn't mean I wanted to end it all."

"I didn't want to," Percy told her, seriously. "I swear, I never wanted anything like this to happen."

She laughed humorlessly. "And it was all for my own good."

"I was stupid Annabeth. We all were." Percy told her. He was getting annoyed. "We didn't know what the hell life as an adult would be like. Everyone broke apart. The lucky ones that stayed together, like Nico and Will were reasonable. They cut ties with this town."

She shook her head. "I cut ties with this town, and look where it got me."

"But I didn't Annabeth, you see?" Percy said. "We were perfect, don't deny that. But we were also stupid. I, for one was stupid. I don't know what else to say. I still love you, I know that. I don't know much, but I know that."

She paused for a moment once more, and then shook her head. "Tell Rachel how you feel, she's amazing, and she deserves to know."

Percy nodded. "I will, I promise."

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Also, I have a poll up on my profile, I'd really appreciate it if you could check it out and vote. Thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate the support! Leave a review, I'd love to hear your thoughts about the current… developments.**

**TheLil'Lion **

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	32. Chapter 32

**Hey! I hope you guys are doing well, and that you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: With the limited spanish I know, and you have permission to tell me off if I'm wrong, but **_**no soy Rick Riordan. **_

For the next couple of days, Annabeth avoided Percy like the plague. It's not like much changed. She just avoided going to the pool area when he was there, didn't go to the bar at nights anymore, and stayed holed up in her room when Percy was doing his shifts downstairs.

It was Thursday, Annabeth was almost losing track of the days. She finally fell into a routine. Waking up, taking a shower, looking over her measurements, and working on good dimensions. She only had to go to the gym once or twice a week now, for updates with the team and Mr. D.

The team mostly worked on getting materials, and information to Annabeth, while she worked on designing the actual thing from her home. Piper was getting worried about her- she barely went out unless she _knew _Percy wasn't there.

Basically, she tried to act normal, when she clearly wasn't. Like, ever. Percy, thankfully, stayed his distance, aware that she was trying to keep away until he officially broke up with Rachel. She didn't want to do anything, and nor did he. Annabeth wouldn't be able to cope- she would be too guilty even if she hugged him knowing that he was with Rachel.

Rachel didn't deserve that, and although Percy had said he would end it, tell her the truth, she had her doubts. She tried to push them away as far away as she could, but the thing was Percy was just _too damn nice. _She worried he wouldn't be able to do it. And Rachel would continue to be strung along.

She'd actually met up with Rachel on Wednesday, yesterday. It was nice. They talked, and Rachel ignored the dark circles around Annabeth's eyes. She politely disregarded Annabeth's uncomfortable faces, and pretended she didn't notice the times Annabeth stopped herself, trying to tell her everything. But that was Percy's job, not hers. Rachel didn't mention anything about Percy breaking up with her. And Annabeth didn't know how she felt about that.

Well, she felt a mix of feelings, most which she couldn't identify.

Rachel was just the type of person she wanted to open up to. She was kind of like Piper, but not exactly. Piper was magnetic, she made you want to be friends with her. She made you comfortable just by appearance. Rachel was intense, but her appeal didn't come from the fact she was funny, or that she was good at making people feel better, she just made Annabeth feel normal.

She knew when to ignore things- she knew what Annabeth didn't want to talk about, or what she did. But she never forced anything.

She really hoped she didn't lose her as a friend when this was all over. Really, really didn't.

But since the confrontation with her and Percy, Annabeth always felt guilty around her. They'd almost kissed, goddamnit. She felt like a horrible person. Like she was hiding a secret. And in truth, she was. What made her feel even more guilty, was that she knew Percy was eventually going to break up with her.

All in all, she felt like shit. Like absolutely crap. And as much as Rachel was a good person that shouldn't be pitied, the girl seemed to have everything figured out, Annabeth felt so sympathetic for her. And in a way, for herself. She felt like she hadn't slept well in a while, awake from all the… sadness, guilt, whatever she was feeling.

She checked her phone for the millionth time today, to see if she had an DM's from Percy. She didn't know why she was expecting anything, she shouldn't.

But they had admitted that they still loved each other, right? That constituted something. So why couldn't she just text him. It wasn't a big deal at all.

She went to her DM's and tapped out a message to him. "When are you doing it?" She wrote, and then deleted it. That sounded so possessive and weird. She tried again. "When are you going to tell her the truth?" She fixed it. Much better. That sounded so much kinder, not just kinder, but honest.

She pressed the send button, and it only took a couple seconds for him to respond. "Tomorrow." He said. "I promise," another text message came in, just as she began typing her reply.

Percy's promises were always genuine. She deleted what she was writing, and typed again. "Okay."

It felt so terse and awkward. Weird, she'd never been awkward with Percy, they'd always been comfortable with each other mentally and physically. Awkward silences never came, ever.

She looked around the crowded cafe she had been sitting in. People were talking and sipping coffee. Annabeth had her laptop in front of her, and was supposed to be working. Of course, she wasn't, she was preoccupied with texting Percy.

She looked to the design on her screen. It was from a project she had been consulting on. Along with the gym, she also looked over other architecture projects to make sure they were safe and ready to start being built. The building looked strong enough, it just needed some supports. She added a note on the side, quickly typing it in the small comment box.

Sighing, she checked back to her phone. She was too distracted for this, she'd look at the building later. She shut her laptop, and shoved it in her bag, and then picked up her coffee, getting up to leave.

With her phone in one hand, and drink in the other, she exited the shop, and then promptly ran into none other than Jason. Thalia's brother, and Piper's… well, not Piper's anything yet, she supposed.

"Annabeth." Jason smiled weakly. Her coffee had spilled, and she was frowning down at the puddle that was forming between them. "I'm sorry, let me help you with that."

"What's done is done Jason. I'm good." She said, and then picked up the cup, ignoring the spill. She threw it into a nearby trash can. "How are you?" She asked, looking up and down at his expectant eyes.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, okay." He said. "Uh, just working at the office."

"With Piper." Annabeth said nonchalantly.

He almost visibly flinched. Annabeth found it kind of funny, he looked entirely smitten. "Uh yeah."

"How are things going?" She asked.

"Okay." Jason repeated, "Uh, I gotta go, but it was nice seeing you Annabeth. Um," he stuttered, "Percy-"

Annabeth shut him down. "I know." She said, and then walked away, shaking her head. The entire interaction was weird. So weird. She wasn't sure what to say. And the thing about Percy, that was even more out of line.

She did know things were getting sorted out, and that was all that mattered right now. And soon, she didn't know how soon, but soon enough, perhaps, Rachel would have had her feelings spared, and her and Percy would… she wasn't sure. Maybe be together?

She hadn't considered that before seriously, but now that the air had officially been cleared, she was. And she didn't hate the idea.

**I hope you all enjoyed it! I think you guys will really enjoy the next three chapters. Actually those are the last three chapters too. Chapter thirty-five will be the last chapter of this. Which is kind of crazy, right?**

**Also, I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter! Thank you all for your comments and support.**

**Also, I'd appreciate it if you could fill out the poll on my profile. After I finish writing the Knelt by Her Notebook sequel, I'm going to start another story, and I'd like to know what you guys want to read next most.**

**Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you are all safe and healthy! Leave a review! I'd love to know what you think!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	33. Chapter 33

**Hey guys! I hope you like this chapter. Oh, and did you guys here that PJO is going to be adapted as a Disney+ series? Each book is going to be one season, holy crap, I hope it isn't disappointing.**

**Oh, and I posted a one-shot yesterday entitled "if we have each other," and I would really appreciate it if you could check it out and leave a review!**

**Disclaimer: The fact that there is one of these tells you something, right?**

He was doing it today. That's what he'd told Annabeth, that's what he'd told himself. It had to happen, he knew he couldn't do this to himself or Rachel anymore.

They were meeting up at noon at a nice restaurant a couple miles away. He was picking her up from her house, and driving her there. Then he'd tell her. He swore he'd tell her everything, except for the part about Annabeth.

Well, he'd have to put a little bit of her in there, but he wouldn't specify by name.

This was already feeling like a bad idea. But he had to go through with it. Because no matter how bad it was, it was the right thing to do. For Rachel, for himself, and for Annabeth.

He adjusted his belt, as he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked fine. Not horrible, clean cut enough for a date, but casual enough for it to look natural and not forced.

He checked his watch. Ten minutes until he had to pick Rachel up, so he had to get going now. Grabbing his car keys, wallet, and phone, he exited his apartment, and went to the parking lot. His car was ready and full of gas, he'd filled it just yesterday. He hoped in, and began to drive to Rachel's house. Her apartment wasn't too far away, a couple blocks, so he arrived just five minutes before he needed to.

He climbed the two sets of stairs to her apartment, and knocked on the door lightly. It only took thirty seconds for her to answer the door. And when she did, he felt so bad. She was wearing a bright sundress and green converses. "Hey Perce." She said.

Percy felt his throat tighten. "Hey Red," he managed. He held out his arm for her, because as much as an asshole he was, he was also a gentleman. She took it gracefully, and they walked to the car.

This already was going horribly.

They made small talk in the car. About Rachel's job mostly, the kids, the other teachers, everything. "There's this guy who's always been really nice to me. His name is Ethan. We eat lunch together sometimes, since we have off the same period."

"That's nice." Percy said. Maybe this Ethan guy was a blessing in disguise. Someone she could fall back on, hopefully. Because Percy, to be clear, didn't have a clue how this night might end.

They pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, and Percy helped her out of the car. Once they got settled in, they ordered, and luckily, food came quickly.

"So," Percy said, opening the conversation. "I wanted to talk."

"Me too." Rachel told him seriously, putting her hand over his. "You can go first."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry Rachel. I really am. I tried really hard. I wanted to like you romantically so bad, but I couldn't. I know you told me to end it anytime I was feeling unsure, but I knew you genuinely liked me, so I was stuck. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but once I saw her, that girl I told you about again, I just, I couldn't. That's why we broke up first. And I was trying really hard to fall in love with you. But I couldn't. I wanted to, I wanted to so badly." He cleared his throat. "But I couldn't."

Rachel was silent for a long time, her face morphing into several new expressions, none of which Percy could decipher. They stayed quiet, not eating, and just staring at each other for a long while. And Percy wondered if they'd stay there forever.

"Is it Annabeth?" She finally asked, and when he nodded, she smacked herself in the forehead. "I should have known. The way you guys looked at each other, I always suspected. You aren't discreet at all Percy."

He whispered, his voice rough and scratchy. "I'm sorry Red. I really am."

Rachel sadly smiled. "I like you a lot Percy. You're a great person, handsome, kind, you actually have a conscience, which lots of people seem to not have, and you're empathetic. But I think I always knew. And I feel bad-"

"You shouldn't, this is all my fault."

"But Percy, I knew. I knew that you weren't over Annabeth. I didn't know who the girl was, but I had this intuition that you were hung up. I'm annoyed yes," Her smile turned into a frown. "I am, I wished you told me instead of waiting. Because it would have been much easier to get over this. But I understand."

Percy put his other hand on top of hers. "I really wish I loved you Red. You're amazing. I just don't… I don't think I'm right for you. Or that you're right for me. But you're amazing, I'm not lying or trying to make you feel better when I say that."

"Damn straight I am." She moved her other hand on top of his, following suit. She was warm, but in a friendly way. Not a romantic way. "It's going to take some time, that's inevitable, but you and Annabeth… if you really like her, and if she really likes you, go for it."

Percy looked down to his lap. "I'm so sorry Rachel Dare."

"So am I Percy Jackson." Rachel said. "But before we part ways, could you tell me just…" she hesitated, "everything. I want to know it from the beginning, it'll help me move on. It'll make me feel better about myself."

Percy nodded. "Rachel, you're perfect, okay? You'd be a great girlfriend, I promise. And I'd appreciate it if we could be friends."

Her eyes were tearing up. "Of course Percy. If anything about this is clear, it's that we're better off friends than dating. Now please, tell me."

"Where should I start?" he asked.

Rachel looked at him thoughtfully. "The beginning. That's where most stories start."

And so he told her everything. The beginning, when they were just best friends. Then when they began to date, the nights they snuck out together, the days they kissed just with the light of the moon around them. Their firsts, together and apart. The entire thing. Percy felt his speech almost wobbling as he got to the end. His words were hoarst, but they were true too.

When he got to the end of their relationship he stopped, but then Rachel nodded encouragingly, and he continued on, talking about after. About everything. Things that had happened the past week. And then he told her more, about Annabeth's "drowning fiasco."

He stopped right at the date, and she looked at him in awe as they finished. "That's one hell of a love story Perce." She said finally, and then moved her hands away from his. By now it was late, and the food was gone, consumed by the two of them.

"Yeah." Percy said quietly. "And it kind of seems like it's all ending."

Rachel stopped him. "You're going to her apartment, and talking to her."

"Wait, what?"

"What do you mean what?"

"I mean, are you endorsing this?"

Rachel huffed. "Of course I am. As much as I wish we had something more, I want you to be happy too. That's what friends are for."

"I want you to be happy too." Percy said, earnestly. "Will you be okay?"

"I don't need a guy to be happy." Rachel told him. "It's nice, being in a relationship is good, but I know it's not all I need. There's so much more to life. And I'll have you as a friend."

"What about Annabeth?" He asked. "I don't want to ruin your friendship."

Rachel sighed. "I wish she'd told me, it would have made everything so much easier, but I understand why she didn't. She was scared like you. And it'll take time, but yes, I'll have her as a friend too."

"And no awkwardness?"

"No awkwardness."

They walked out together, and Percy drove her back to her house. He walked her to the door, and gave her a quick peck on the forehead. "I really am sorry Rachel."

"You've said that to me many times." Rachel said. "But I accept your apology. Now go…" she hesitated, and her voice trailed off. "Go get your girl."

"Thank you so much Rachel. For everything."

She waved her hand in the air. "Times running out."

"I'm sorry." He repeated again. No matter how many times he said it, he couldn't stop the guilt.

"I know Percy, it's getting annoying." she pushed him away. "_Go."_

She shut the door, and Percy felt his lips, and a smile coming up on them. This went well. Really well. And Rachel was awesome, he was _so _lucky to have her as a friend.

He walked down the steps, and went to his car, which he opened up. It was time to drive over to Annabeths, the phase two in this. For everything to be truly resolved, he needed to talk to her.

**I hope you enjoyed this. I hope you guys like the story, overall too. I'm constantly overwhelmed with how much support there is, all the kind reviews really make my day. I'm so grateful to have you guys reading my stories, and I hope that you continue with the support, it makes me so happy.**

**Also, I'd appreciate it if you checked out the poll on my profile and voted! I want to know what you guys want to read most next. **

**Again, thanks so much for the support, and please, stay safe and healthy! See you in the next chapter!**

**TheLil'Lion**


	34. Chapter 34

**Hey guys! I hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: You'd know if I was Rick Riordan.**

Annabeth couldn't stop worrying. She knew Percy was doing it today, and since it was late, he'd probably already done it.

She hadn't gotten any texts from Rachel or anything, so she was outrageously nervous. She _really _didn't want to lose Rachel as a friend. She didn't even know if her and Percy would end up as anything, so that would really just be salt to the wound.

She clicked around her phone for a long time, she supposed. Piper was out, supposedly with Jason, apparently they were working things out and talking through stuff. She was happy for Piper. So many people only got with her for fame, and she knew it was something you could get tired of quickly. Piper had had hookups, and short flings, but nothing like Jason. When he'd picked her up, they'd looked at each other in a way that made Annabeth's heart quench.

She stretched and then turned around in her bed. How late was it? She checked her phone again. It was ten.

She should probably go to sleep. She didn't know what she was expecting. Just because Percy (probably) broke up with Rachel didn't mean he would come running back into her arms. It would take time, she'd told him this herself, right?

Just as she closed her eyes, she heard a knock on the door. It was a hard one, loud enough for her to hear it from the living room. She rushed over to the door, not caring she was wearing pajamas and looking insane.

When she opened it, Percy was standing smack dab in the middle, looking hastily into her eyes.

And then they were kissing.

It wasn't soft or slow. It was intense. One of the most intense things Annabeth had experienced in a long time. He wrapped his hand around her neck like he had so many times before, and Annabeth relaxed into his arms. Her hands went to his hair, brushing through those unruly looks, as they kissed like nothing before.

She tilted her head, just a little bit, to get the good angle, and she stumbled back as Percy moved his mouth from her lips to her chin, and then the side of her neck. She felt something she hadn't felt for so long, it was freeing.

They broke apart, just for a moment. "Holy shit…" Annabeth breathed, looking into Percy's eyes. They were filling with this intense desire, one she hadn't seen in such a long time.

"Annabeth," Percy said, "Annabeth I missed you so much. I missed kissing you, I missed touching you, I missed everything. You're my everything. And that's cliche as hell, I know, but I just- I've waited so long for this."

Annabeth didn't respond. She just went in for another kiss, leading him backward to the couch too. They fell onto it, Percy beside her, and she giggled. Literally giggled. She hadn't done that for so long, maybe never.

And then, after a short pause, they were at it again. Her hands on Percy's chest, holding his shirt, tightly in her grasp as he turned over. She looked up to him. "Percy," she murmured, "this is… this is going too fast. We need to slow it down."

"I-I know. Whatever you want Annie." Percy asked, his eyebrows flickering towards her lips once more. "Annabeth, we don't have to do anything more now. Just let me kiss you. I haven't felt your lips on mine for so long." He cleared his throat. "I love you Annie. And I'm sorry for everything."

"I'm sorry too," Annabeth said, her eyes getting wet as she looked at him. It was just… it was too much. She couldn't explain it- but he was here, and she was there, and she felt peace. Not complete peace, but close to that.

Annabeth spoke after a moment of silence between words. "I'm sorry for being an ass. I feel like… if I wasn't, we could have avoided a lot of this."

He put his lips to her forehead, murmuring against it. "Oh wise girl," her heart twisted at the old nickname. "We're here now, okay? Just… don't worry. Let's be free of this for just this moment. We can think about it later."

"Okay," she replied softly, feeling almost a cold breeze over her. But it wasn't unpleasant. It felt good. "Will you stay?" She asked.

Percy turned over again, lying beside her. "Of course I will. Do whatever you want. You have my heart, but be careful, it's fragile." He was referencing the first time he'd said that, years ago. She remembered it like it was just yesterday. He'd told her to do what she wanted with it, but to be careful.

And she would, this time, she swore she would. And she hoped Percy would do the same to her. All of this, it was something she'd never dreamed of. Well, she had dreamed of it, but she never thought it would become reality. But there he was, lying right next to her, looking at her like she was the sun, the moon, the stars.

Like she was everything.

And for a moment, no, more than a moment she felt guilty. Horrible about Rachel. She didn't know how she'd reacted, and this didn't tell her if it was positive or not. And then his lips found hers a moment later, and she forgot about it all. The world was pure, white for a moment, and the storm faded away in the distance, just for a moment.

She pulled away from the kiss, which was softer than the rest. It was a loving one, not that all the others hadn't. But this one felt like a promise, a pact. It felt like forever.

It told her this wasn't just a one time thing. That _they _weren't just a one time thing. That the universe had awarded them a chance. A big one. It told them they were meant for each other, that they couldn't be apart.

She looked him in the eyes once more, her breath heavy, and his too. All the kissing, it had taken a lot out of her. But even so, she leaned over, giving him a kiss on the nose, then the cheek, then the forehead, then the chin, and finally the lips. And as her lips found his, she whispered, "I swear I'll keep you close to me."

She knew this wouldn't be the last time they did this, she hoped far from that. And although her insecurities and doubts would come, just as he had, she swore that they wouldn't get the better of her, just like Percy had years ago.

"I won't make the same mistake I did six years ago again," Percy promised, taking a breather before he kissed her again. "I promise, I promise, I promise."

Annabeth smiled. "Me too."

**I'd been looking forward to writing this for so long, and I'm so happy that I finally did. One more chapter left until this ends, I really hope you all have enjoyed this story, and I'm so grateful for all the support. Thanks for sticking along with me, I know that it must've been harder at times.**

**More Info: ****The Knelt by Her Notebook sequel will be posted BEFORE the all-new story. The new story will be chosen based on the poll, but also personal preferences- some stories are more time consuming than others. Upon the arrival of the last chapter of **_**this **_**the first chapter of the SEQUEL will be posted. The poll on my profile will be closed when the last chapter of THIS comes out. Just wanted to put this here for all those wondering. My update schedule will stay the same.**

**Leave a review! Tell me what you think, I'd love to hear!  
**

**TheLil'Lion**


	35. Chapter 35

**Last chapter! I hope that you all enjoy, and thanks so much for sticking along with me! The first chapter to the Knelt By Her Notebook sequel is out, and I'm pretty sure you can read it as a standalone without confusion if you don't want to read the entire first one, but yeah. More information on a chapter of Knelt By Her Notebook, and the story itself.**

**Disclaimer: what else do you need, I'm not Rick Riordan.**

_Three Years later_

They lie on a picnic blanket which sits above the cold, wet, grass. The sun sets in front of them, as they cuddle close. Although it's brisk out, the warmth between them calms it all.

Percy's hand is wrapped around Annabeth's waist, and her hand is around his, and stuffed into a jean pocket. They lean their heads together, cuddling closer. And then he speaks.

"Annabeth," he says, attempting to grab something out of his pocket discreetly. She notices, but hides her grin, letting him speak. "I have loved you since the day we met. I know I only just came to California a month ago, but… but I need to tell you this."

"You're amazing. Kind, brave, sarcastic, sometimes annoying," she nudges him in the shoulder, "but also the best person I've ever met. I want to spend my life with you," his voice cracks, and he tries again. "I want to spend my life with you, and that means forever."

"So my love, my life, my wise girl, my _everything, _would you marry me?" His words end hesitantly, but still strong. He hopes, no knows, she'll say yes. They've held on for so long, and there is no way she'd say no. No way at all.

Her words slur for a second as she speaks, "oh Percy," she finally manages, "yes, of course. Holy shit, this is-" she stops, "this is perfect."

No, it's not perfect. He could have done it so much better, but that doesn't matter, because he's on his knees, the ring out, and she's said yes. He slowly takes it out of its case, and takes her hand, sliding it on the ring finger. Annabeth giggles as she points out it's on the wrong hand, and he quickly switches it around.

God he's nervous. But in a good way. Because this is the best ending that he could ever ask for. She hugs him tight, and then moves to kiss him straight on the lips, and he smiles against them, knowing that there will be more of that tonight.

But for now, it's time to enjoy the stars. And think about the future, and what has become. To think about how life will be, and what life is now.

Percy finally saved enough money to move to California, and they had been long distance for a while. But the internet, constant facetimes and pictures helped that. And Percy got nervous sometimes in it all, so nervous, but he knew how it would pay off in the end.

With the amount of action they'd been getting in the past month, he knew it definitely was. And now Annabeth wasn't just his girlfriend, but his fiancee too. God that was crazy, but of course, in a good way.

So many new things had happened, he couldn't count them.

Piper and Jason were in a weird place. They'd gotten together not long after Percy and Annabeth had. But now, Percy wasn't sure what they were. Jason had offered Piper a longer term job at the center she was working in, and she'd declined. Then, a year later, she'd contacted him again, and asked if the position was still open. Percy had heard all of this from Annabeth over facetime, but apparently, it hadn't been filled. When Piper came back, there was some hostility, and they got back together.

Percy hasn't heard anything from Jason about it in a while. Nor had Annabeth. They weren't active on social media, but Thalia said that they were fine (which obviously, thank god). Annabeth had theories that they are together, just hiding it, but he always shuts her down, trying to stop her from speculating about another person's relationship.

Percy knows Annabeth misses Piper. He sees it everyday. Once, when he woke up in bed, she wasn't next to him. Instead, she was drinking coffee, and scrolling through old texts with Piper. He tried to soothe her as best he could. And it helped.

Rachel is good. Annabeth and her took a while to gain the trust back, but in the end, they text every day. Rachel sometimes texts Percy, out of the blue, sending him a funny meme, or a quick rant about her students. Nothing big. She seems to be doing well, she isn't in a relationship yet, and hasn't been for a while. Not even hookups, as he's heard. And it makes him feel a bit bad, because for a second, he thinks it's his fault.

Annabeth says it's self-centered to think it's all about him. And he knows he should agree, because it's true. _Not everything is about him. _It's Rachel's choice not to date, not his.

But enough of that, it's time to think about the moment, the current one, that is. Now, Annabeth is turning him over so that she's on top of him, and looking at him with this desire in her eyes. He reaches towards her, grabbing her curls, and pulls her down into a kiss.

If there are people watching, he doesn't care. There could be a whole audience of people watching him, and he wouldn't care. Because Annabeth has a ring on her finger, and it's one that he bought. He got it at this old antique shop when Annabeth was at work. It was old, and most of the stuff there was useless, but when he saw the ring, he knew he had to buy it.

Specks of gold and grey pearl are around the top, and the band is thin and adjustable. He looks at her hands, suits them perfectly. The ring cost a fortune, but it's worth it once he sees Annabeth admiring it in the last of the sunlight.

He takes it in her hand, and kisses the finger where the ring is, rolling around once more, so they are side by side, nose to nose. He kisses it slowly, and softly, and then does the same to every other finger. She takes her hand and puts it against his cheek, tracing soft lines against it.

He's happier than he's ever been, and he'll be even happier when they finally tie the knot.

…

As Percy looks among all the guests, he notices a few in particular. Annabeth's parents aren't there, and sadly, no one expected them to be. Percy knows that their absence leaves a lonely hole in Annabeth, which means it does the same to Percy too. Hazel and Frank are in the crowd- and so is Percy's step-dad Paul. His mother offered to "give" Annabeth away, and although it's a bit out of the norm, in high school, she was basically a second mother to Annabeth, when her parents weren't there.

Nico and Will, who they reconnected with a while back are in the crowd too, Nico's head is on Will's as they smile brightly up at Percy.

And then, the bridesmaids and grooms start coming out.

Piper and Jason are first, holding hands tightly. There's something up with them, and Percy and Annabeth have separate bets on when they'll get back together. Rachel is next, holding Leo's hand. Leo and Calypso are still going strong, but Rachel and Leo needed a partner, so here they are. Next, Thalia comes out, decked out in not a dress, but a suit that matches the other bridesmaids dresses. Percy notices her looking out to the crowd, finding Reyna, and then smiling as she walks forward.

More people come forth, and then move to the side, until the waves part, and Annabeth's there, in all of glory.

And shit… she looks gorgeous. The white dress hugs her in all the right places, but leaves room for imagination to. Her veil covers her face, but not enough so Percy can't see it. She's grinning as she walks forward, and Percy is too.

She comes closer, and soon, the vows are starting. Everything fades away into the distance, and he just stares at Annabeth, until they're asked to say the I do's.

And when they do, he's smiling so hard, so very hard. "I do," it's strong and confident, and loving.

The room is dead silent when it's asked if there is any reason they shouldn't be married. You could hear a pin drop.

Seconds later, he's kissing the bride like never before, and the room burst into applause. Taking her in both of his hands, they are led out, and get into a "just married" car, which is in truth, just his old Pruis with a tapped sign to it. But of course, it's so them. Percy couldn't wish for anything better.

He envisions such a big and expanding future with this woman, honeymoon in Greece, maybe kids in a couple of years, careers, and then of course growing old together. He's ready to build his life from start to finish with Annabeth Chase. And even if they've been through rocky times, and even more rocky situations, he hopes- no, _knows _that they'll push through and come out victorious.

But it's not time to think about the future. It's time to think about now. And that "now," is pretty damn good.

… **that's a wrap! **

**I'd first like to thank everyone who has stuck with me through this. And also those who have taken time to read my other stories/one-shots. I'm so incredibly thankful for all of you, and I hope that you continue to enjoy my future stories. I really appreciate you all, thanks so much.**

**Right now, the first chapter of the Knelt by Her Notebook sequel is out (entitled **_**Sitting by her Study) **_**and I would appreciate it if you could check it out. Again, thank you all so much for all the support, I really, really, really appreciate it.**

**I hope you guys all stay safe and healthy! Thank you so much for reading!**

**TheLil'Lion**

**P.S: The poll has been closed, and the winner is the Cinderella AU type thing! If you didn't get the story you wanted, feel free to request a one-shot!**


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